We Bite Food, Not Friends

That's what Pumpkin Boy's teachers keep telling us to reinforce with him everyday, and we do. (Although, that phrase is incredibly cheesy.)

Pumpkin Boy received two "incident reports" yesterday. That makes 16 reports since starting daycare nine months ago. Last week, we met with the owner, director, and his teachers to discuss his behavior. It felt like being in the principal's office.

He's aggressive only to other kids - not teachers, not us, not adults of any kind. He bites when he wants something another kid has - a toy, a particular chair, a spot closer to teacher.

The teachers recommended reading him books like "Biting Hurts." I've ordered a half dozen "biting" books from Amazon (Number one: who knew there were so many books dedicated to the topic? Number two: how many different "don't bite" plots can there be? Number three: I could so be a children's author.)

The next step is an observation session with a counselor hired by the daycare. Pumpkin has never chomped on anyone in my presence, but here's what I suspect is going on:

1) Pumpkin is TWO. That's what two-year-olds do. OK, not all two-year-olds, but seriously, toddlers bite.

2) He's teething, as evidenced by frequently putting his entire fist into his mouth and drooling like a Saint Bernard.

3) Verbally, he's on par with his age, but there's still a ways to go in terms of being really able to express himself.

I feel bad for the parents of Pumpkin's victims, but he hasn't broken skin, and he's been on the recieving-end of other kid's teeth, as well - so I know he's not the only biter in the class. But with 16 incident reports, it's getting to the point where the director looks at us like we're doing something wrong. My concern is that they'll kick him out of daycare - excessive biting is a dismissive offense. But at what point does biting become "excessive"?