Tough

This morning at daycare I made a parenting choice. I let Leo get knocked down by another kid while I watched. He didn't get hurt, but he cried. The back story-- in his room there is a boy, E*, who he has known since the infant room, but who is about 6 months older than Leo is. E* is agressive (likes to push and hit, but without any real force) and his mom has been trying to address this issue vigilantly. While we were waiting to check in this morning the boys were hanging out and I could see E* turning to Leo like he was going to push him. E*'s mom immediately told him not to but with no luck, and then after the fact reprimanded E* and apologized to me and to Leo. I didn't step in to stop E* because I made the split-second decision that, 1) it was unlikely to cause bodily harm in this instance, 2) I can't be there to protect Leo from everything all of the time, and that 3) Leo was going to have to learn how to negotiate these situations on his own. So, I let E* push him. Leo was mostly just surprised, and stopped crying quickly. But I felt a little guilty all the same. I will give him extra hugs and kisses tonight.