5.5 yr old let friend prod her in the face

[theburrowers]

at a small funfair yesterday and saw a girl and her family who my daughter is at school with. sat on a bench and they are interacting (could not hear what was said) all is ok but then the girl prodded my daughter in the face about 3 times before i said don't do that. after i tried to ask my daughter and she said it did not hurt.

the thought she would let other people do that to her upsets me.

she squabble with her 4 yr old sister and is loud at home but as one charming friend put it when they were both a lot smaller - they are passive, i think she wanted to say placid but passive is not a very nice trait. both of them certainly always used to let other toddlers take toys of them and that upset me a lot.

any thoughts?

Marking my place. I'm trying to encourage my ds to stand up for himself and not to passively accept name calling and hitting etc from other children, but not sure how to go about it. I would like him to feel able to assert himself but without being aggressive, obviously.

He's 5 too btw

My dd is nearly three but this is a trait I already see in her. She rarely stands her ground if another child takes a toy off her and is hesitant and will stand back at toddler groups rather than dive in and get the toy she wants.
While I don't necessarily think that being passive is a particularly bad trait I'd rather she had a bit more confidence and be assertive if needed. She doesn't go to nursery and only has a younger sibling so maybe she has missed out on acquiring these skills.
Bit of a pointless post as no idea how to help but watching with interest for any advice!

Mine is like this too and she's nearly ten. She is so passive and unwilling to stand up for herself. She is terrified of upsetting anyone. She seemed to place a higher value on other people than she did on herself.

Something that I think has helped is sport. We started with basketball when she was younger. At first she never wanted to catch the ball or get in anyone's way, but she started feeling more confident.

Now she does athletics. Honestly I think she always wanted to lose every race in case anyone was upset but slowly she began seeing her own value.

DS describes his 'friend' covering his mouth to stop him talking on one occasion. I was appalled when I heard this and explained to him that people that like each other do not do this!

Try to encourage my kids to talk nicely to each other and respect each other (and replicate this with husband).

theburrowers I feel your pain (and sadness). DS is a kind and caring boy and I worry for him.

Will be watching this thead with interest.