Okay, a little background, first. My daughter is 2-1/2 years older than my son. When my son was born, we always cautioned my daughter to be careful around him; he was a baby. She took that advice, to heart. Too much to heart. One day, when my son was about 3, my daughter came to me, crying. She told me DS kept hitting her and she was afraid to hit him back, since he was "the baby." I advised her to defend herself and when he hit her, to hit him right back (trust me, she wasn't big enough to actually hurt him). Not to "hurt" him but rather to show him the error of his ways . . . and that if he made a habit of hitting people, they're gonna hit back! Better to nip it in the bud, IMO. So she ran back upstairs, a determined little girl. Short while later, DS comes downstairs, all in tears (with DD trailing after). I asked him to tell me what happened. He stopped crying, then started telling the sequence of events, re-enacting this little drama . . . he did this, she did that, he did such-and-such, "and then SHE HIT ME!" With that, he smacked himself on the side of the head and went stumbling half-way across the room, fell to the floor, then started crying for all he was worth! Oh, he was good! Well, I slapped my hand over my mouth, as quickly as possible . . . but it was useless. Needless to say, the child was not hurt . . . and once he realized I was laughing, he gave it up and started laughing, himself (with many repeats of the famous slap and stumble). Children! Gotta love 'em! Oh, and that was the last time, he hit his sister.
