my baby the nursery bully

so i think sam may be a naturally aggressive alpha male.

note this morning's activities in the church nursery:

1. in an effort to get to me (welcome, stranger anxiety), sam totally pushed a much older baby (18 months) to the ground. sam's got a few pounds on him, BUT STILL. sorry, baby e.

2. hide spent the rest of the morning with him and apparently, every time baby n was playing with something, sam snatched it from him. THERE WERE BOXES OF FLASHY LIGHT UP TOYS EVERYWHERE. baby n just turned sad, stricken eyes on my schoolyard bully. sorry, baby n!

3. after service, baby n's papa and i halfheartedly attempt to get the babies to interact (n is two weeks younger than samwise.) what does sam do? he grabs n by the bib and yanks. sorry again, n!

i'm sure most veteran parents would be forgiving about sam's innate aggressions. after all, how does he know what sharing means? he's never had to share. he's wobbly so he doesn't know about pushing. n had a cute bib with a furry bear on it; sam wanted to see. but i can't help but feel kinda bad about my bully-like baby. i've heard stories about how parents feel bad about their kids' actions (my kid the biter, my kid the hitter, etc.) and i think i can empathize now, even though sam is tiny. what if he does grow up to be a bully? or a hitter? or the tantrum thrower? i feel sad about that.

it's my issue in part, like my worth as a person/parent is tied up in my kid's behavior. i'll probably have to fight that f.o.r.e.v.e.r. but man. what a way for the dream to die. sam is not naturally going to be mother freaking teresa or ghandi or kenneth from 30rock. what a shocker.