No means No

Noah just graduated from his Bugs class at the little gym and is now in the Beasts class. He even has a yellow ribbon to show his achievement!  We had our first Beast class the other week and it seems to be a pretty good fit for him. He was a little advanced for the Bugs class and there are older kids in the Beasts class so he can watch and learn from them. Right before his first class we were in the lobby waiting for class to begin and there was a little girl there who caught Noah’s eye. She was 26 months (he was 16 ½ months). Gasp! An older woman… Well, they flirted and giggled and had a blast together. He would run off during the exercises and I would find him playing on the springboard under where she was sitting. Anyway, toward the end of class, Noah must have gotten too excited and tried for first base (the hug). I looked over and he was hugging her and walking at the same time. Well, he didn’t let go and accidentally tackled her and they both went flying to the ground and rolling around. Noah got up all pleased with his first base run and she was so upset. Poor little thing cried for the rest of class and would not participate in any activities. We are working on being gentle and the No Touching, but obviously it is still a work in progress. I do have to say; hopefully I will be as calm and nice as the little girls parents if/when Noah gets tackled by another kid. I would feel bad putting the smack down on a 2 year old.