My DD is a first grader with a little clique that includes one boy who just doesn’t get on with the other boys. It will probably make him more well-rounded as he ages TBH.

Anonymous wrote:Four year olds fight over toys. It happens. Was it right for that kid to “punch him in the face”? Of course not. But you handle it by first acknowledging that this was a little kid, and not labeling him for life because of something that happened in preschool.

This! I get it, OP, there’s a girl whose grandparents live in our neighborhood and two summers ago she was visiting and was super rude to my daughters (not letting them play with her, trying to get the other neighborhood kids to ignore them, etc.). We basically avoided her all that summer but the next year gave it another go and there were no issues. I get that being mean and punching are not the same thing, but this wasn’t a ten-year old who punched your kid, he was a preschooler. You really need to let it go.

Anonymous wrote:I would let your son play with who he wants to play with.
If he wants to avoid this kid because he doesn't like to be hit, I would allow that. If the hitting was so long ago, that your son has moved on, and wants to play with him again - I would allow that too.

*1. He sounds like he has good instincts.

I would let it lie for now, but reframe things closer to kindergarten. Preschoolers often grow out of their impulsiveness in Kindergarten or first grade.

Im with your kid on this. Someone punches me in the face I’m gonna avoid them. Sure he may change and grow but your son still has the right to say « he’s not for me ». Totally legit.

I think it's pretty normal for kids to bring up incidents that stand out to them--especially ones with negative experiences attached. My daughter repeatedly brought up how this one kid pulled her jacket hood on the playground (at age 2.5) for like 8 months. They were in the same daycare room, and they still played together all the time and got along really well--but the first mention of Robby and she would bring up the hood incident--it was a way to get attention. So I'd just remain neutral about it and wait and see what happens, 6 months is not the same as a year for little kids and their memories.