Bullying

I feel like I should write something.  Right?

I mean, what is going on with us? 

Vivian is ridiculous.  She rolls over.  She sits up.  She squeals with delight.  Once she “talked” to a bush for half an hour at the pool.

Ah, the pool.  It’s where we spend every non-rainy Sunday-Funday.  I don’t know that I can ever spend another summer without a pool again.  We have met some of our neighbors what with it being a community pool.  Most of them I like.  Some of them I wish would imbibe a few less beers and teach their children not to be bullies.

On that note, I’m in this weird space of parenting where I have to figure out how to handle seeing other children bully my children while their parents are both present and drunkish.

Part of me wants to yell at everyone – GET YOUR SCARY, TWICE-THE-SIZE-OF-MY-SON SON AWAY FROM MY SON!  Part of me wants to encourage my boys to handle the situation on their own – STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES!!!  PUNCH THAT KID IN THE MOUTH!!!

It started with the kid taunting Silas.  “You’re four, and you still don’t know how to swim?!” and escalated to the boy physically picking up Silas and throwing him into the pool (Silas was wearing floaties, but he flipped his shiz all the same - and rightfully so).  The boy also continuously shot Gavin in the face with a water gun full of water from the water fountain (i.e. it was cold).  His mom did make sure to half-heartedly slur “make sure everyone else’s gun has cold water too, Kid’s Name.”  Except my kids weren't armed with water guns at all.  (Oh make no mistake, there will be a trip to Target prior to the next Sunday-Funday.  We will not be caught unarmed again!)

I think it wounded Jimmy’s pride more than he wanted to admit.  When it comes right down to it, blood and DNA matter not a lick.  Your people are your people, and those boys are his people. 

Silas is sensitive and bull headed.  Jimmy wanted Silas to just swim and prove to the bully that he could do whatever he put his mind to.  He quietly encouraged Silas to let go of the wall/rail/me and let his floaties support him.  

Silas didn’t care a thing about proving a thing to the bully.  He hung out on the steps with his floaties and would only jump to one of us and then cling to us for dear life when he decided to stray from the steps.  To which I say, “good for you.  Stay true to yourself.”

But that is the logical, “that is probably the right approach” part of my brain.  Because the momma-bear part of my brain wanted to throw the bully and his mother both in the pool and then shoot them repeatedly in the face with water guns full of cold water.

So, probably the best approach to handling bullying with my kids is to hover on the outside of it and let them handle it in their own sweet way unless and until I see absolutely no other choice but to throw folks into pools and shoot them with water guns.