Thursday, February 24, 2011

Raising daughters/mean girls

Therese came home from school yesterday and told me that 'R' asked her why her jeans aren't 'cool' looking.  She's 9.  This same girl, sometime last week, felt the need to tell Therese that she knew what had happened to our beloved cat, Simba, who has been missing.

She told Therese(who had asked her classmates if they'd seen her cat), "I saw a three legged orange cat, and it was dead on the road.  Roadkill."  Now, whether it is true or not, that was a very cruel thing for her to say.  I don't even think it is true.

There is another girl who is wise beyond her years.  She uses foul language, talks to Therese about things that kids have no business knowing, and watches a tv show called '1000 ways to die'.  I do not have cable, so I did a search online to see what this show could be.  Not only does it show how people have died under unusual circumstances, a great many of them supposedly happened when the person was engaging in some illicit behavior.  The show apparently has very low moral standards because I found some clips online that showed some pretty raunchy stuff.  Why is a third grader watching this garbage?

I wish I could insulate her.  I see her struggling to 'fit in', and yet be faithful to my and John's expectations for her.  I wish she didn't feel a need to fit in, but that's human nature.  I'm sorry this has even reared its ugly head this early in her school years.  I was lucky with the older kids; the boys didn't seem to get sucked into this stuff, and Maria always had a strong independent streak. 

It isn't easy being a mom, standing on the sidelines, watching our kids take the bumps and bruises of life.  She's so precious to me, and it hurts me deep in my heart and soul.

HUGSxxxAnnie

1 comment:

  1. So there with you, Annie. It's been a week of it for us, too. Kids are dang cruel.

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