What do you do

......when your friend's child constantly hits yours? If you have been reading my posts you would know Nikhil, my friend's son who is now Peanut's pal. He is two years older than Peanut and twice the poundage. We usually get together for play dates either at his place or ours. Every time we meet N has the habit of pushing P, knocking her down and giving her a whack. Peanut would look at me sadly and I will scoop her for a hug and kiss, saying "it's okay...." and divert her attention to something else. N's mom(my friend) would in turn react with " N, not nice, tappu nanna (whatever that means in Telugu) you shouldn't hit". Clearly, that doesn't seem to be working because N continues to shove and whack P every time we meet. He is the kind of a brat that snatches P's toys from her even if it is her toy. He will sit on P's ride-on and refuse to get up and when P goes to sit on his instead, he'll go push that away knocking P down. I have been tolerating this behavior thus far but today I lost my cool. We were invited to P's house for a Pooja and there were few more ladies gathered. I sat down on the floor and made P sit next to me. Immediately N came and beat her a few times on the back. I was so angry that I retorted with "N, no hitting! That's not nice." He then pushed her and beat her on the head. P was in tears and she usually doesn't cry. I saw that he hit her quite hard. I was this close to hitting him back. Instead I sternly said "NO hitting!" but he never seemed to care. P did her "Tappu nanna..." again and I realized this wasn't going to work. Heck, who can tolerate their child being hit again and again? I said I'd rather leave and headed back home. I sometimes feel that child is a little mentally challenged. Something about the way he behaves and talks unclearly. Oh, whatever. I don't want my child to be the brunt of his actions. I came home fuming with a very upset Peanut and told the story to A who was fuming more than me. I don't think I want them to get together for play dates again unless he swears not to touch P. I wasn't sure how to convey this to P and that's when google came to my rescue. Found this interesting article that addresses the same issue. Very insightful -
http://www.inspiringmoms.com/“what-do-you-do-when-your-best-friend’s-kid-is-a-bully-and-hits-your-kid-all-the-time-i-really-need-help”/
*rolls up her sleeves*