Observational Study Revised

A child about the age of two years is the subject of my observations. About three foot eight, he wears an oversized shirt, a baseball cap, jean shorts, and foam sandals on his feet. His face has a smile on it the entire time as he runs around.This observation takes place at a camp ground where two groups that can only be explained as two separate families sat under a gazebo. This little boy's family sits at a metal picnic table. At each person's setting is a plate of watermelon rinds, half-eaten hotdogs, a mess of crumpled napkins, and crushed cans of soda. No one except one lady is actually eating. Seven adults sit with smiles on their faces looking at this little boy. One couple looks to be in their late twenties--she being pregnant. Another couple looks to be in their thirties--she being pregnant. The oldest couple looks to be in their fifties--the woman being the most energetic one there-and not pregnant. The last adult was a teenaged boy who sat on the far end of the picnic table while most of the commotion happened.

I'm not the only one watching this little boy since this group's gaze did not leave him. As Little Boy tottles up and down the aisle of picnic tables, the oldest woman jumps off the picnic bench and makes a loud roar at him. He giggles and immediately changes his direction to run away from her. The pregnant woman in her thirties says, "Look out Cyrus, Grandma's going to get you." Again he comes running toward her with a half-toothed grin. "Grandma" roars again at the little boy when he's almost within reaching distance for her. He giggles even harder and turns around to run the opposite direction. This pattern happens three or four times with the roaring getting even louder and the boy laughing even harder.When the little boy comes running back towards the direction of his grandma, the teenaged boy suddenly appears from behind "Grandma" with a three foot branch in his hand. His feet are wide spread and his arms high up in the air. His smile is full of metal and he waves the branch as he tromps towards this little boy. He doesn't move fast. His motion is slow enough that Little Boy has time to stop in his tracks. His smile disappears. And the laughter is now replaced by a high-pitched scream as he runs towards the pregnant woman in her thirties.

It makes me wonder as I watch this interaction whether or not the teenaged uncle knew what he was doing. Was he intensionally trying to take the playfulness too far or is he just clueless as to what does and doesn't work well with little kids. There's obviously a fine line when being playful with children. Perhaps this teenaged uncle is an example of the large number of us who accidentally cross that line and take it too far.