I have a fat lip today.

It happened yesterday when I was changing Pudding. I’m usually on my guard and can stay safe until I’ve managed to distract him with tickles and nonsense, but this time a well-aimed kick when I wasn’t expecting it caught me full on the mouth. It bled a bit and swelled up impressively.

Poor me.

Only that’s not really the full picture, is it? All behaviour is communication and none of it was his fault. He doesn’t like being messed with (who would?!) so sometimes complains vigorously. It wasn’t a well-aimed kick – it was him flailing his legs around to try and get out of a situation he didn’t like. To accuse him of kicking me implies that he is capable of wanting to cause me pain and I just don’t think he could.

Yes, he deliberately hits out and kicks particularly in situations where someone is in his space or he is provoked. But not ever maliciously. There isn’t one iota of nastiness or spite in my boy. And I hope anyone who knows him would say the same.

But in life, of course, we meet many people who don’t know him. And that is why each and every interaction outside our safe zone puts me on edge.

Yesterday, we had a trip out to William’s Den, a superb natural-themed play space for families (that also has a Changing Places toilet!). It’s out of our local area so, as I hoped, it wasn’t too busy being that we’re one of the few places where children are still off school. Pudding loved running around the place and exploring. When he discovered the hideout with cushions where some other children were building a den I knew he was likely to start kicking it over, and the children too if they happened to be in the way. They eyed him warily and I dived in as usual to warn, explain and negotiate his way through a world that often doesn’t understand him.

But our story is not really what this post is about. My fat lip was just a reminder about a door that isn’t often opened. A door to an area that many people aren’t aware of: parents who are on the receiving end of violence from their children.

You see, we’re pretty lucky really. Pudding is still good-natured and distractable enough to be managed most of the time. I get the occasional bump and bruise but it’s nothing compared with what some parents face on a weekly or even daily basis. It has been talked about more lately, partly due to the work of the lovely Yvonne Newbold who works tirelessly to ensure that parents and professionals learn from her own extensive experience. (If you are struggling in that position yourself, I do urge you to read some of her resources and join the Facebook page.) I know that our future is uncertain – as Pudding gets bigger and stronger, his behaviour may worsen too, but I know that I’ll be able to turn to places like this for help and advice.

Violent and challenging behaviour is hard to deal with in any situation. But then I also come across parents of (usually) autistic children who feel unable to raise this issue or even mention it for fear of backlash from professionals or others within their community. People who will jump down their throats and accuse them of bad parenting.

All most of us ever want to do is to keep our children safe, understand why they are acting the way they are, and let them know they are loved. And doing that without being judged or criticised doesn’t seem like too much of an ask. I am sometimes very grateful that I only have a small friendly readership and can rant on here in virtual privacy.

Not quite sure what this post has ended up saying really. But I suppose my (rather garbled) message for the day is: Be kind even if you don’t understand what another is going through.

Oh, and be prepared for a kick in the face every so often…