Bullying, Part Two: Mama Bear

As I mentioned in my last post, our family recently dealt with the experience of bullying.  As I shared, this experience has caused my husband and I to attempt to balance responsibility with grace—advocating as parents for our child while simultaneously extending grace by repeatedly asking ourselves the question, “How would we want to be treated if the situation was reversed?”  As we aimed to make grace our guiding directive, I offered to have a play date in hopes to settle the tension.  Before you think I’m a saint, let me be clear… this was a sheer act of discipline.  Everything in me opposed such measures, as it is much easier to remain upset with an unknown parent and child.  However, I knew in my heart that this is what I would hope for if my son was having difficulty.  Although this playdate did not rectify the situation—the bullying continued—I knew in my heart that I did everything I could to extend grace.  In the end, we had to approach the District.  Life lesson #1,236790:  sometimes situations call for the Mama Bear.  In the end, I am my child’s advocate; he is my responsibility.  This situation has caused me to ask myself, “Did I provide my child an example of what love and responsibility should look like?” As parents, we want desperately for our children to avoid suffering and yet, it is in those toughest times, they learn about how to treat others with loving but firm boundaries.  How do we model the responsibility of advocacy, boundaries and empathy for our children?
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