Bullying

It seems that some bigger kids have begun bullying Rachel, although I'm not quite sure of what's going on. Tonight at dinner she told us that two 5th-grade boys approached her at after-care today and they told her if she doesn't bring snacks for them tomorrow, "there'll be trouble." She said she had given them some of her snack (extra snack that Drew had packed for her because she's growing so fast and needs more food) but it apparently wasn't enough.

Drew got very very angry at this -- both he and I were bullied as kids -- and he told her to report it to the staff members. Rachel said the head of the aftercare staff would call it "kid-sized problems," and that made Drew even angrier. He threatened to talk to the kids' parents, and if they STILL wouldn't stop bothered Rachel, he'd knock the kids' skulls together.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Rachel said calmly, and I told him to dial it down.

When he was putting her to bed, Rachel got a concerned look on her face.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Drew asked.
"I'm worried about the bullies," she replied.
"Don't worry, Mommy and Daddy will take care of them," he said.
"Well, what can you do?" Rachel asked.
"Well, there's a lot we can do," Drew explained. "We can talk to the staff, we can talk to their parents. If I have to, I'll talk to them myself."

Rachel got a worried look on her face.
"What's the matter?" Drew asked again.
"I'm worried that you'll do too much to them, because kindness is always better," Rachel said.
"What do you mean, kindness is always better?" Drew said.
"Maybe they had a lot going on in their lives, like they have to do a lot of chores, or they're always in trouble or something," she said, "and I've had a very convenient life so far."

Drew was flabbergasted. Finally he said: "That all may be true, but even if they've had a lot of trouble in their life, it doesn't mean that they get to cause trouble in YOUR life.

"It's a lot to think about for a little girl, but we'll get it all sorted out," he said.