Kidnapping, coercion and brotherly love

I got my first true glimpse of what I thought was a moment of brotherly love and enjoyment, but turns out to be much less ... pure. A and Z had been playing in A's room for awhile. Since A is the only child who can reach the door knob and knows how to open the door, I kept listening for more persistent knocking or at least a decent, blood-curdling scream. Occasionally there would be a knocking on the door, but it was temporary, and I'd heard only the occasional squeak, so I assumed (and hoped) that a) no one was dead and b) they might actually be getting along.

After 30 minutes, I went up to make sure all was well, and lo and behold, it was fine! No blood and all body parts appeared to be in working order.

I left them playing and proceeded to walk down the hall. Halfway down the hall, I turned to look back and admire my beautifully behaved children, and realized Z had followed me, and was about midway between me and A. A rushed up to Z, took the stuffed basketball toy from Z's hand and threw it back into A's room, and A then tackled Z to the ground and proceeded to drag him bodily into A's room.

When I asked A what he was doing, he simply replied "I don't want Z to go with you. He's playing with me!" I told A to let Z up. Z jumped up and happily toddled back into A's room in an effort to play with the toy A had taken from him. A smoothly slid into the room behind his brother and said "We playing now," and promptly shut the door.

I guess it's better that A wants to play with Z than push him away all the time, but one has to wonder where the line is drawn between wanting to hang out because you love someone and, ahem, forcing others to your will because they're smaller than you.

At least no one's bleeding.