Mama Bear

You may or may not know that of the nine personality types on the Enneagram* I am a 9, which is what they call The Peacemaker.

Here's a little excerpt from the type description:

Nines essentially feel a need for peace and harmony. They tend to avoid conflict at all costs, whether it be internal or interpersonal.

Makes me sound like a real hippie. Except when it comes to people messing with my kids...I'm less like a peacemaker and more like a BLOODTHIRSTY WARLORD. Or as the good people of the Enneagram might call it, an eight. Ba-dum CHING! #enneagramjokes (Probably three people will find this funny AND I AM ONE OF THEM.)

Carolina has a "friend" at daycare...we'll call her Brittany. Every day when we ask her what happened at school, she says "Brittany told me she's not my friend anymore" or "Brittany pushed me" or "Brittany told me to shut up".

I have tried countless times to give this kid the benefit of the doubt. Every day I ask,"Did she say she was sorry?" and every day Carolina says no.

It honestly takes everything in me not to reply with "WELL BRITTANY SOUNDS LIKE A LITTLE B#@%!" (at least to Carolina - I say this to Gary pretty much daily). But like any okay parent, I usually remind her that we don't treat people that way even if they are mean to us, or tell her to talk to her teacher (because we are not above raising a house full of narcs) or nonchalantly ask if there are any other kids at school she could play with other than Brittany. I'm begging you. ANYONE IN THE WORLD BUT BRITTANY. What about that little girl who eats bandaids? Seems like an agreeable alternative to Brittany.

Nobody warned me we'd be dealing with bullying at three years old. YOU GUYS REALLY DROPPED THE BALL ON THAT ONE. I'm kidding. Sort of. I mean I knew this stuff was coming but I wasn't prepared to have to deal with it so early.

I'm sure by now you've all guessed where this is going - we are of course pulling her out of this daycare immediately. I figure any time a kid starts giving her trouble we'll just move her to a different school. You know what they say: if you run away from your problems fast enough, they will never, ever catch up with you and you'll be happy forever.

THE END

*If you've never heard of or taken the Enneagram you should click here and do it so we can talk about it because it is FASCINATING. OOH AND THEN LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST.