I am approaching my #BrassyBlogJulyChallenge chronoligically, so what better place to begin other than kindergarten? Her name was Sabrina. Adorable name right!? If by adorable you mean "robs your desk cubbie to break your crayons and eat your paste", then you are correct! DING DING DING! We have a winner! The first "bully" I remember encountering was a girl in kindergarten named Sabrina. She sat next to me in our classroom and for some reason she decided to reach into my desk daily to break my crayons and eat my paste. Granted we were 5, but you didn't see my 5 year old booty busting into desks to break crayons and eat paste! I would go home every day and complain to my mom about this horrible little girl who stalked my desk. Sabrina would wait for me to leave so she could eat my paste and break my crayons. When you are 5, and your desk doesn't have a lock...what are you supposed to do in order to protect your belongings?! I hated finding all of my crayons broke and my paste empty . Not only did I look like the weirdo who couldn't color without breaking her crayons but I also looked like the weirdo who ATE THEIR FREAKING PASTE! I was always having to borrow paste and color with broken crayons. Something had to be done.
The down side was that Margie thought I was the weird paste eating crayon breaking 5 year old! Obviously that did not work as intended! I went back to allowing Sabrina to break and eat my art supplies while waiting for conferences to come. I wanted to show my mom who this little beast was , the one who decimated my stuff daily.
Well.. conferences came and I was ready to point out the evil little tormentor to my mother. I was pretty sure that once she laid eyes on this little monster I would feel vindicated. Sabrina showed up to conferences with her mom and I pointed her out to my mom. My mother went over and introduced herself to the crew and immediately made friends with my paste eating neighbor and her mom. NOTHING was handled. She took one look at this tiny little girl with curly back ringlets and bright blue eyes and acted as thought I was over reacting. She said, " That was the bully! She's like a foot shorter than you!"
Bullies come in all shapes and sizes!
The truth is, when it comes to bullying.. size isn't a factor and in this case Sabrina was just a little girl with a paste eating addiction and an odd hatred toward crayons. She didn't have hateful feelings toward me. In reality, she most likely had bizarre looking bowel movements from all of the paste she was eating...On the flip side, this made me realize that we can be bullies without realizing it.. I learned at a young age, opposition and bullies can come in all shapes AND sizes with varying degrees of awareness. As a parent, I will never discount my child's complaints regarding something that is bringing he/ her distress. Looking back, I just needed to ask my neighbor with the paste addiction, "WHY!?" instead of sacrificing poor Margies Crayons and paste...
My take away?
- Bullies come in all shapes and sizes.
- Some may not be aware they are causing anyone distress by their actions.
- Don't discount the validity of someones reports of being bullied and ill treatment based on what you see or think. Just because it doesn't seem possible to you doesn't mean something is not happening.
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