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| photo courtesy of Photo Bucket |
Today, my daughter came home with another bullying story. It’s
not the first time someone did her wrong, and it won’t be the last! I listened
to her long winded story of what happened...the girl was bugging
her....wouldn’t shut up....told her to just leave me alone, go away...she said that nobody liked her....climbed over the top
of the bathroom stall...
Wait, she what!? Yes I had heard it right, this mean,
obtrusive bully, climbed over the top of the bathroom stall when my daughter
went in there to get away from her.
I asked her next, “Did she put her hands on you?”
My daughter looked at me, she knows I can be fierce, and she
put her head down and said no. I asked her again, wondering if her body
language was showing tell tale signs of a lie. “Tell me now, the truth, did she
put her hands on you? Did she poke you, push you, or did she shove you?” A
mutual friend of my daughter and the bully had to actually drag this girl out
of the bathroom, in order for the situation to stop. This girl did not put her
hands on my daughter, but at this point, it didn’t matter.
I put on my shoes, told her to do the same and I asked her
where this girl was right now! Possibly she was at the neighbors (the mutual
friend) or at the school yard. We went to the neighbors, as I knocked on the
door and rang the doorbell, to no answer; I could feel my anger growing.
As I said, when it comes to my girl, I can be fierce!
We walked to the school yard, and she was not there.
I took a breath, and took a cue from my daughter. My
adrenaline was pumping, and I could see it got her pumping too. I knew I needed
to calm down, and hopefully, I wouldn’t really find this girl. Instead I
decided to walk into the school, to tell the principle.
As it turns out, this bully was being suspended, for what I
know to be the 3rd or 4th time this school year. We told
the principle what happened, we told him what she said, and I remembered to
include the part about her wishing my daughter would die in a hole. Who says that? A few girls
have bothered my unassuming daughter before. I have talked her through it, done
and said all the things I believed to be right. This time though was different.
Nobody, I mean nobody, gets into a bathroom stall with my baby!
When I was a teenager, a fair share of girls hated me. They
didn’t like my long “spaghetti hair” (as they affectionately called it). One time,
I even got chased out of one of the boys houses because one girl found out I
was there hanging out. They didn’t want
me to hang out with any of the guys; they didn’t want their boyfriends talking
to me. They seemed to wish I had never come to their school. I wish back then I had someone to protect me,
to stand up for me. I wish I could have been better at standing up for myself. I
know firsthand how mean and cruel girls can be. I won’t be able to protect my
daughter from all of them, but I can damn well try!
On the walk back home, my daughter thanked me for standing
up for her, and for talking to the principal, and for all of the things I told
her. One of the things I told her was that if anyone ever shoved her, she was
to use all her strength and shove them back. Her response was a wide eyes,
“mom, then I will get expelled and I will get into trouble!” To which I
replied, “Honey, I already home school you part time, you can come to my school
and you won’t get in trouble from me for standing up for yourself, EVER.”
Did I tell her the wrong thing? I know violence doesn’t
solve anything and “violence begets violence”, but really, if someone cornered
you, and punched you in the face, would you smile at them? I don’t think so!
Thanks for stopping by!Tannis
