Bullies. What are they? I am certain that each one of us have at one point in our lives dealt with a bully. Most bullies are just trying to get a reaction out of us. They are not interested in hearing you out; they just want to prove you wrong. While I can deal with someone bullying me it is a lot harder when you see it happen to your children. The mother lion in us comes out when someone says or does something that hurts our children. People tend to think that bullies are mostly just children, but I have seen adults act just as mean and nasty as some of the children that are in our schools.
The other day I was at Kohl’s Department store with my children. We had been looking at the clothes and I was trying to find something that would fit my daughter who is very swollen due to the amount of prednisone she is on. As we were standing there this older lady looked right at my daughter (who is 5 years old) and said, “You are pretty fat aren’t you?” Unfortunately my daughter has had this happen before so she looked right at her and said, ” Yes I am puffy, I have a disease that requires me to take medicine that causes me to swell”! I was so proud of her for standing up for herself! But five minutes later I saw my beautiful little girl looking in the mirror and crying because she looked so fat! As a mother I wanted to go deal with the woman who had given my daughter this insecurity in a way she would never forget.
After I calmed her down and once again explained to her that she was not fat, I wondered how I as a mother could deal with these types of situations in the future. I have decided that the only way people will learn to think twice before they speak is by is to stand up to them and educate them in regards to what they are doing. I don’t think that the older woman was trying to hurt my daughter, but what she said really hurt. I think that children only mirror what they are seeing before them. If you act rude and are hurting people with your comments then you need it to be brought to your attention and hopefully you will change. Whether it is how you look, or if you have a learning disorder, or you struggle with personality issues, you do not deserve the critical attitude of others.
We as parents, teachers, and grandparents need to be proactive with our children when we see them being treated rudely or when we see them being rude to other children. Stand up for your children. They will never forget the times that you are willing to be a source of help to them. We need to also make sure that our children know how to deal with someone who is bullying them. Help them to be able to stand up to the child or adult. Help them feel like they can trust you to understand what is happening to them. Listen to your children. Encourage your children to go to their teachers or daycare providers if they are being bullied. The only way for there to be change is if we as parents stand up for our children.