Not What I Had In Mind...But OK

Sometimes I jump to conclusions a little too quickly.

Remember last week I wrote about Lael finding a "friend" on the first day of school?

Yup. That lasted about 2 days.

Last Wednesday, I spoke to her about the new girl. For blog purposes we'll call her Suzy.

Lael said that she wasn't sitting with Suzy on the bus anymore because Suzy was sitting with another girl.

She was ok with it though and so I left it alone.

But Thursday she came home and said that Suzy and the other girl were bothering her. She said that they would pull on her book bag and put shit in her hair. Ok, she didn't say shit but that's my interpretation.

Now let me stop right here.

If yall don't know, I am not the "let's go talk to Suzie's parents to stop this" type of parent. I am more of a "If she touches your book bag again or even thinks of fuckin' with your hair that I spend an hour braiding I'll be waiting at her bus stop" type of parent.

That being said, I decided to let Lael handle it. She is almost 6. And she is in the 1st grade. So I figured she needs to start learning how to fight her own battles.

What I did was give her a few, uh, pointers. I asked her what she would do if it were D bothering her. I told her ask them to stop nicely. I told her she could tell the bus driver. I even told her to let them know at school. I told her she had to decide the best method to handle this situation.

Big mistake.

I sometimes forget who's child she is. It apparently slipped my mind that she don't play.

I gave her exactly what she wanted. A.Free.Pass.

On Friday, I forgot to ask her what had happened that day because Grandma had picked her up and she slept over.

Saturday it slipped my mind as well. This evening as we were picking up a few groceries it popped in my head.

"Lael, what happened with Suzy on the bus Friday."

"Oh, I just got on the bus and pulled her hair."

"Lael! Why did you do that? She didn't hit your or hurt you!"

"Well, she wouldn't stop."

"Well how hard did you pull it? Show me"

(She practically rips a handful of hair from my scalp)

"Owww! Did you pull he hair that hard?!"

"Yeah"

"Did she tell on you? What did she do? What did she say?"

"She said that she wasn't being mean to me the other days...But I think she will leave me alone now."

Yes Lael, I'm sure she will leave you alone now.

Oh. My. God.

What have I created?!

It's gonna be a LONG year.