Mom Advice Please. Did I Have The Right Reaction To This Bully? What Would You Do?

I picked my son up from school yesterday and saw something that took me a second to register: He was being bullied and was letting it happen. Anger instantly took over me as I walked quickly and with purpose over to the situation. The fact that I didn't sprint toward this child earns me a medal. Here's what happened:

Each afternoon, I wait outside the door where my son and the rest of the first grade classes pour out at the end of the day. My son is typically chatting with another child and taking his sweet time. Yesterday, he was one of the first to emerge from the sea of 6 and 7-year-olds.

What I saw next surprised me so much that it actually took a split second to register. As I watched my son hold the door open saying "after you, after you, after you..." to his classmates. That's his new thing because he sees my husband and father-in-law do it. Now he thinks it's cool (which I can agree with). As I'm thinking that we may be here all afternoon, I see one of the other little boys turn around and just start punching my son. It was the weirdest thing. They hadn't been walking together, nor were they anywhere near each other and all of a sudden, my son is getting punched. After I took a split second to realize that I'm a parent and not some psycho (despite the rage I was feeling inside), I walked quickly toward both of the boys and asked what was happening. The other boy walked away until I called him back to apologize.

Pause the story.

I am not one of those moms who feels my son is a saint. He's not. However, he is not aggressive.

Back to the story.

The little boy quickly apologized and walked away.

I asked my son who he was (got his name - they are in the same class) and then walked up to the other boy to ask him (and my son) if hitting was okay and if it's a kind thing to do. The kid said no and walked away again.

I notified my son's teacher and let her know what happened and asked if she could keep an eye on them to see if something is going on between the two boys. While punching is wrong, plain and simple, I don't know the whole story. Like, what provoked that action?

The school is extremely attentive and the teacher has responded. I'm not so much focused on their role in this, more my role.

What would you have done? Did I do the right thing?