My Bodyguard
Apparently my kid was paid a dollar to provide protection to a smaller kid at school.
I responded in an appropriate way - "He's your friend, not a client. You need to give him the dollar back. Is he ok? Are there physical threats of violence?" Concerned Mom asks. I am assured that it is just an 8th grade bully picking on an exceptionally small 6th grader. I am not assured. Where are the grown ups? Why do we even have middle schools? These 6th graders are so little.
In my head I am thinking, A buck?! That's what protection goes for these days? Does that seem low? Is it the Recession?
Also? I feel relief that my kid is not the one being bullied, nor is he the one bullying. I think I would rather deal with the issue of returning the dollar and being a good friend for the principle of it.
Parenting is hard. And we project our own issues onto them no matter how healthy we might think that we are.
Tomorrow I need to call the Dad of the kid who is bullied. I know him and while I don't know a lot about him, I do not think that the bullying will surprise him. I want to make sure that his son is safe. And I want him to know that his son is so scared that he is paying other kids to protect him. That seems significant to me.
The Assistant Principal and Math Teacher want to talk about why my son is always late to his first period class. I could care less.
I am a good mom. And I need to act like I care that my son is usually one minute late to his first period class. I do think there are bigger issues going on at that school and I need to bite my tongue on that one when I nod and assure them that I tell my son how important it is to be on time for class. And then I need to call a Dad to talk to him about something that truly matters that the school cannot help us with.
I responded in an appropriate way - "He's your friend, not a client. You need to give him the dollar back. Is he ok? Are there physical threats of violence?" Concerned Mom asks. I am assured that it is just an 8th grade bully picking on an exceptionally small 6th grader. I am not assured. Where are the grown ups? Why do we even have middle schools? These 6th graders are so little.
In my head I am thinking, A buck?! That's what protection goes for these days? Does that seem low? Is it the Recession?
Also? I feel relief that my kid is not the one being bullied, nor is he the one bullying. I think I would rather deal with the issue of returning the dollar and being a good friend for the principle of it.
Parenting is hard. And we project our own issues onto them no matter how healthy we might think that we are.
Tomorrow I need to call the Dad of the kid who is bullied. I know him and while I don't know a lot about him, I do not think that the bullying will surprise him. I want to make sure that his son is safe. And I want him to know that his son is so scared that he is paying other kids to protect him. That seems significant to me.
The Assistant Principal and Math Teacher want to talk about why my son is always late to his first period class. I could care less.
I am a good mom. And I need to act like I care that my son is usually one minute late to his first period class. I do think there are bigger issues going on at that school and I need to bite my tongue on that one when I nod and assure them that I tell my son how important it is to be on time for class. And then I need to call a Dad to talk to him about something that truly matters that the school cannot help us with.
posted by Lea at 7:57 PM
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