My kids went with their cousins today to a nearby water park. One of their cousins is a difficult kid (with three possibly more difficult younger sibs) that has a known history of inappropriate behavior, poor impulse control, getting into trouble that is a bit frightening, etc.
On the way home from the park, Cousin was acting out, pinching my son and hitting him with the spare seatbelt between their seats. His father, my younger brother, used to do crap like this all the time, so although I wasn’t there, I can pretty much see in my mind how this went down. The Boy told him to stop, but he persisted (like father, like son). Eventually The Boy couldn’t bear it anymore and popped him a shot to the nose. Blood ensued. The nagging from the cousin (who is a year older than him, but smaller in size) stopped.
I talked to my son on the phone. He knows he shouldn’t hit anyone, and it’s just so far out of his character. It’s the first time he’s ever really hit someone in anger, and I think it freaked him out a bit. He’ll usually just take it and get frustrated. I am proud that he stood up for himself, although I would have preferred he could have resolved it in another way. I told him he wasn’t in trouble, but that he should try and keep things from escalating that far in the future, and that he’s lucky he didn’t do any serious damage.