schoolyard bullies
17 Aug 09 - Monday - 12:05 p.m.
The Buddha told me that his daughter woke up this morning and didn’t want to go to school. He asked her if someone was bullying her and she pointed the boy out in her class photo. He managed to convince her to go to school but would have to leave at lunch to drop by his daughter’s kindergarten to have a word with her teacher to look out for the said bully.
“I told her that in the future if anyone bullies her, she should tell them that her daddy will sue him,” he said.
I scoffed.
“That’s the wrong answer! You should be telling your daughter to stand up for herself! She should go and tell the teacher herself if she is bullied, not ask her daddy to do it for her!”
“Are you talking about yourself? Anyway, we shall see whether that’s what you will do when it is your daughter who is bullied,” he retorted.
“I would have you know that two weekends ago, an 18-month-old kid took my daughter’s toy and she went up to her, took her toy back, and smacked her,” I replied, not without some pride. Mummy is such a known doormat that she is really pleased that her daughter has shown that she is no pushover.
The Buddha raised his eyebrows and walked out of my office. It was the exact same expression my mother had when I told her that I thought that Ally was justified in what she did since the 18-month-old started it by snatching the toy from her hands.
The question is: Am I condoning bullying by my daughter with my misplaced pride?