As I was taking E to her Daisy Scout meeting last week, E dropped another bomb on me.
"Yeah, so, at lunch, S made fun of me," said Elena, her voice dropping low.
My big eyes are searching for her in my rearview mirror. Why is this always happening in the car??
"Well, what did she say?" I inquired cautiously, hoping E wouldn't turn into a weeping puddle.
"She called my crutches stupid and said I was slow or something."
Okay, I'm thinking. This sounds like she's telling a story, not like her heart is bleeding. GOOD.
"Well, what did you do?"
"We didn't do anything," E shrugged. Shrugged? Shrugging is GOOD.
"Who's WE?" I asked.
"My friends at lunch. You know, C, M, and E." OKAY, I'm thinking.
"What did you all do?" I asked, after a pause.
"We ignored her," Elena said nonchalantly, inbetween bites of her snack. "And then S said something mean to C. We ignored that too."
WELL.
I thought my heart would break the first time E would tell me she was teased. Instead, it soared. I'm so proud of that girl.
I did spend a little time commending her for being brave and strong, thanking her for telling me what happened, and trying to tell her ignoring mean comments is fine--but speaking up for herself and others is okay too. Overall our driving conversation went well. This will be a good stepping stone for the (inevitable) next time.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
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2 comments:
Oh WOW. You must have raised her well. Just love how she handled this. Makes me not so anxious for when it happens to Ben.
What Cary said! She handled that with such grace and maturity. A parenting expert once told me that car rides are an excellent place to talk with the kids, they just feel comfortable spilling and sharing because it's a safe place—i.e., you're not sitting them down at the kitchen table to have A Talk. It just all comes out, naturally.
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