Momsomnia
I had serious trouble falling asleep last night. Typically I get a Sunday case momsomnia as I think about the week ahead, but it hit me last night. Miss A had a run in with bullies for the first time on the daycare playground yesterday and it broke my heart to hear her talk about it. One boy, in particular, she kept mentioning by name. He was apparently teasing her and calling her a “baby.”
Little boy whose name starts with C?
I’M SO ON TO YOU PUNK.
As Miss A and I snuggled in her bed after story time last night she had a request.
“Mommy will you turn off my turtle lamp?” There is a white ceramic turtle lamp on her dresser that was mine as a little girl.
“Sure baby.”
“Those big boys make fun of my turtle lamp mommy?”
“Do you think they’d make fun of you because you sleep with the lamp on?”
“Yes.”
It dawned on me that the boys are not only targeting her because she is the newest and youngest member of the 3-year-olds’ class, but perhaps because her speech is easy to target. Miss A has trouble pronouncing her “Rs” properly. She says “wain” for rain, “wabbit” for rabbit, etc. She also sucks her thumb at nap time.
Miss C, taking on the role of big sister, was full of sage advice concerning playground social semantics (don’t get me started on the “boyfriend” chasing thing that is apparently the first grade girls’ idea of recreation as Miss C has not one, but two, beaus.) This morning she asked Miss A to come back to her bedroom. Because Miss C normally bans her baby sister from her bedroom, I stood outside her door, just in the hallway, so I could observe. She dug around in her dresser drawer and pulled out a sparkly fuchsia headband, one of her favorites. She expertly placed it on Miss A’s head “so the mean boy wouldn’t bother her.” Apparently bullies hate the blinding girl power of girly bling.
Now Miss A is my spunky girl, full of enough social moxie (not to mention herself) to work the toughest of crowds. I’ve never seen her discouraged about school and she’s been very excited about her new room and new teacher. This morning I kissed her on the cheek as she watched TV.
“No school for me today mommy?” Her big brown eyes looked up at me.
“You’ve got school today, and grandma day tomorrow!”
I reminded her that her daddy was taking her to school.
“Do you want daddy to say something to your teacher about the mean boys?”
She paused, plucked her thumb from her mouth, and said, “No, I DO IT!”
That’s my girl.
