Friend's kid

[LesserSpottedDalmation]

I have 2 children, 3 and 1 YO. Bestie has a 2yo.

I am finding meeting up with her more and more stressful as her child's behaviour is (IMO) often completely unacceptable, which pains me as she's my bestie and I would love nothing more than for our kids to be the same.

My 1yo is not in the "copying what other kids do" phase and I would be mortified if some of these behaviours were replicated by my children.

There seems to be little serious discipline and even when it does happen, it's met with a grin from the child and no change in behaviour. Even if a punishment is dished out the kid just doesn't seem to care.

My 3yo now refers to this child as "biting " to distinguish them from "not-biting " who is at nursery, and has recently turned down the suggestion of meeting up with the other child to play as "* pushes me and I don't like it when they do that".

What would you do?

Biting can be fairly routine with a 2 year old. It's how your DF deals with it that matters.

What does she do?

Hits. Throws food at people (adults). Runs around restaurants. Ignores every instruction from parents. Rips things out of other people's hands. Helps herself to whatever she wants (including rummaging through food cupboards). Runs off (including into roads). Climbs up on to tables/window sills/anything really.

Nothing sounds that bad in isolation but it's like a whirlwind of chaos. I know quite a few kids this age and it's way more extreme. Other parents and grandparents have even commented "how do they deal with that all the time?" about the parents.

You could try asking your DF gently if she's struggling? I'd try and meet without the DC if you can and the behaviour is affecting your DC

I'd also consider meeting without the DC for a bit if you can, especially as your 3yo has expressed that they don't want to play with the 2yo because they push.

How does your friend react to the misbehaviour? Both what are they trying to do about it, and how do they seem to feel about it? Are they struggling with it, or are they treating it as fine because she's 2?