What are we going to do about hitting?

The last two weeks at church, we have been told that Calan hit another child and last week tried to pull a kid by her hair across the room. Neither situation were we thrilled about, but we didn't know why it was happening. He rarely if ever hits Maisie and I have never seen him hit another kid when we are at play dates, so why was it happening at church? 

Toddler Times offers 5 Steps to stop
toddler hitting habits. 

Well, yesterday, Calan and I went to the library where there is a train table with only a few train cars that everyone has to share. Obviously for young children, the sharing is not easy. Calan wanted to use some of the cars that one kid had and when the kid literally yelled NO, Calan bopped him on his head. It was not a proud mommy moment at all. Calan then could not play with the train and had to stay by me while we looked for books. 

I am pretty sure the hitting is stemming from a lack of communication skills. I am not too worried about it. However, he needs to learn how to wait his turn. He is very good at sharing with other children, but does not understand why others do not share, hence the hitting. So, we will be working on waiting turns for awhile. 

I thought I was doing pretty good as his mom teaching him to share and wait and play nicely with kids. He doesn't hit Maisie, but I have seen him slightly push her out of the way if he wants something. She doesn't care too much if he wants what she has, so he rarely has to wait his turn. And that's the issue. So, he will be waiting and waiting and waiting some more from now on. 

Hitting is just not acceptable and I need to nip it in the butt as of yesterday. 

I hate worrying about my kid while he plays with others. Some of the issue is that he is not shy at all. I wish he was a little more shy and a little less in your face. He wants to play with other children, but doesn't understand when other kids are shy and don't want to play right away. Plus, I am sure half of them don't even know what he is saying, which obviously adds into the situation. 

But, mommy can't be there all the time and it is good to know (whether good or bad) how he acts when we are not around. We now know what we need to work on. We need to give him the words to communicate and the ability to wait. 

So praying this is a quick phase and that no one's children are hurt in the process. And I apologize in advance to any moms who have to put up with my crazy toddler. He is a work in progress.