The tickle/tackle monster

Well, it's official we have a monster in the house. It all became obvious to us two weekends ago when we decided to take a little road trip. After several weekends of being responsible home owners and lawn mowing, washing windows, washing cars, etc. we couldn't take it any longer and decided to get the heck out of dodge for a little while, at least the day. So, we packed up the kids and the car and decided to head to the Malibu Country Mart for the day. For those of you who have been there you know that it is a nice combination of adult enjoyment and child entertainment, meaning there are several nice restaurants and shops and a great playground in the middle.

After a nice lunch we spent some time at the playground. There is a little sand area that is surrounded by a cement ring, keeps the sand and small kids in. Heath and I were sitting enjoying some coffee and watching the kids and all of a sudden this little boy next to Jack bends down to scoop up some sand (seemed innocent enough) and Jack runs at him from behind and tackles him to the ground. Then, while the poor little kids was on the ground Jack gets his tickle fingers out and starts with the "tick, tick, tick" that he loves. He was smiling and laughing the whole time, the same cannot be said for the poor little boy that was pinned underneath him. Heath and I tried to contain our laughter (we didn't want to look like completely horrible parents) and we went over and took Jack off the poor little boy. The little boy and his mother both were not laughing. Back to the sand they all go, two seconds later Jack is at it again. For some reason every time this little boy bent down, Jack would tackle him to the ground and then tickle him. Turns out the little boy was FOUR!!! Either he was really small for his age or Jack is really huge, I am hoping it was a combination of the two. The age difference makes Jack seem like even more of a brute.

We decided enough was enough and walked across the street to the beach. It was a beautiful October day and both kids decided they needed to go in the water, I hadn't brought suits so Madeline went in her panties and Jack in his diaper. Heath thought this was awful, but he is a little uptight about this kind of stuff.

Turns out that Jack does this at school all the time also. On Monday, I made the mistake of asking his favorite teacher, Wendy. She is so sweet, she looked at the floor and kind of had a nervous laugh and then replied that yes, Jack had a problem with this. I was not sure how to handle this, Madeline was not a tickler or a tackler. I kind of laughed and then dashed out the door, making some excuse about being late for work. In retrospect, I realize I should have asked her how to stop it, etc. Today, when Heath went to pick Jack up, he was in trouble because he was trying to wake a little boy that was sleeping on the mats by tickling him. Apparently, every time the teach would turn around Jack would bend down, put his face right up to the little boy's face, and tickle him under his chin. As soon as the teacher would say anything, he would run. At least he is smart enough to know not to be caught in the act! I guess all the wrestling that Madeline and Heath do with Jack have had a real impact! Great!!

Madeline wanted me to post the picture of Heath and I, she took it!