And So it Begins

In a previous post I mentioned "Bree" the first grader who attends Jay's school whose mom was oblivious to the fact that the kids had two weeks of Spring Break. So who does that leave to watch Bree? Of course the at-home mom who has no life and does nothing but, well, stay at home! Well, if I thought Bree was a pain my butt then, wait til you get a load of this.

Yesterday was Jay's first day back after Spring Break. I was in a coma-like sleep when she got home (thank GOD for Babe) so Jay was in full Barbie-mode when I got to her.

"How was school today?!" I asked Jay as she sat in the playroom surrounded by Barbies and their clothes.

"It was good!" She said barely looking up.

"Gooood," I replied. I was happy she'd had a good day on her first day back because boy did I get a chance to recover from "Break" that afternoon.

Later, we sat at the table eating dinner and I asked again how her day was, what was the best part?

"It actually was kind of a bad day, mommy," my heart sank.

"Why? What happened?" Mama Lionness was ready to attack.

"Bree told me, 'I am never going to your house again, you're MEAN!'" Jay said with sadness in her eyes. "But I told her 'You were the meanest!'"

My heart smiled, my baby had defended herself.

"Then she said 'Let me out of this seat, I'm not sitting with you anymore either!'" Jay was sad again. "But I told her 'You're going to wait til I get to my stop!'"

Heart smiling again.

"So she is being mean to you now?" Babe asked as he continued eating, where's the Lion in him?

"I'm glad you stood up for yourself!" I beamed.

And that was that. Until Jay was talking to Gangan (aka my mom) on the phone before school. What I heard made me want to march up to that school, yank Bree from her chair and give her a good talking to.

"She made me cry too, I forgot about that part," Jay said noticing the fire ignite in my eyes. With that I quickly got her off the phone so I could get the scoop.

"Yes mommy, she pretended to accidentally bump my eye with her arm and that made me cry," my baby girl said.

"WHY didn't you TELL me?!?!?!?!" Lionness is back.

"I just forgot, that's all," she said.

All sorts of things went through my mind...I'll pick her up from school today, no, I'll call Bree's mom today, no, I'll get on that bus today and tell Bree to KNOCK IT OFF!! God no.

"What do you want me to do Jay?" I asked, trying to tame that Lionness.

"I'll ride the bus today and if she bothers me I'll tell one of the leaders," she said. She's definitely her father's child, I would have said PICK ME UP!

"Okay baby. You're not there to be tortured so if she keeps it up you let me know," I told my big girl. She didn't seem so much the baby I saw her as when she told the story, now she looked like a kid who could handle herself and knew who to go to if she couldn't. But I still wanted to wrap her in my arms and tuck her away safely from that, that, child.

So I helped Jay get ready for afternoon kindergarten and I get to wait four hours to find out how her bus ride home went. I wait, and I wait. Then I realize, this is only the first of many, many days Jay will be bullied. I'm going to really have to toughen up for this school-aged parenting gig. Lucky for me my baby, er, big girl is already tougher than I am.