I hate to admit it....

but my son is a shover and a grabber!  I don't quite know what to do.  Do you remember those days when you didn't have kids and you silently judged a parent by how their child behaved in public?  I remember all too well.  Let me say one word "karma"!  Those of you who have met Sammy know that he is a sweet little boy and can just light up a room with his smile.  But let me introduce you to the child he becomes when other little children are in his range of motion.  So it's like this.  We walk into church Sunday and Sammy bolts for the fish tank at the children's desk.  Not a problem.  Looking at the fish, good.  Shoving three older kids twice his size out of the way so he can get a front row view of the aquatic life, not good!  Suddenly you go in to panic mode.  It's almost as if you haven't parented this child a day in your life.  Your brain starts spazzing out and you forget the brilliant intervention plan you had formulated for moments just as these.  So you switch to the default setting and calmly tell your child that they do not touch their friends.  I somehow quickly convince myself that Sammy will realize that about a billion eyes are on us(not really, but you assume that the world stops and turns when your child acts up) and will decide to make a good impression on the people.  Instead it's almost as if Sammy looks at me and contemplates whose idea is better.  His- be right up at the glass and charge the other children a fee to catch a glimpse, OR mine- wait your stinking turn!  Yep, you guessed it.  He chose his idea.  So, default setting number two.  Remove him from the situation and take him straight to Sunday school class.  Drop him off in class which turns in to him wailing for Mommy and Daddy(major separation anxiety these days).  We were somehow able to focus during church and the service was amazing.  We leave the service pumped!  Walk back to Sammy's class and see him sweetly playing in a corner of the room.  He sees us and runs (cue music) to our open arms.   Without really thinking, the following words fly from my mouth.."so, were there massive amounts of pushing today?".  Why did i have to ask.  I tried so very hard to real the words back in before the bait hit the water, but it was too late!  Why Heather, WHY????????  The teacher said that Sammy and one other little girl pretty much shoved and grabbed from each other the whole time!  She also said that Sammy kept trying to take everyone else's snacks.  You sort of want to crawl under a rock when you hear that kind of stuff.  It's embarrassing!  You want to scream "I swear I discipline him!".  Sammy was a doll the rest of the day, but I kept racking my brain trying to figure out why he behaves like this.  I know that he is an only child and is very territorial.  He has also been pushed  and shoved by other children quite a bit in his little life and has probably figured that if he wants to survive he better learn how to defend himself.  Or I guess it's more like he thinks he should just walk into the room and shove you so you know up front not to mess with him.  The reason I share this story is so that perhaps you mothers of boys out there could give me some insight on what to do.  It would be easier if this was a problem we had to deal with daily.  If he was receiving constant instruction on not pushing or grabbing from his friends, then the rule might stick.  But once or twice a week at church is not getting through.  I thought that maybe if I had some of his little buddies over to our house every once in a while, it might help him learn to share.  So, tomorrow morning my friend Kristin is bringing over her 2 and 3 year old.  Don't be afraid for me!  Her kids are really sweet and it's only for an hour and a half.  I guess we can call this experiment number 1.  I will let you know how it goes.