Mom Talk
Mom, the Accidental Bully
Raw emotions surface when parenting a tween daughter who's learning how to handle the 'mean girls.'
“You’re just like Sophia!” Slap. Right there on the street, I hit my child. On her face, with my hand, in the heat of the moment, my temper the winner, my daughter the loser. We were walking home after school: three bulging backpacks, a stroller, and two siblings arguing in the rain. Eldest daughter was trying to get me to react to her complaint about her sister combatant. When I didn’t respond, she said a desperate thing – she compared me to the girl in her world who’s been best friend and foe and everything in between. After I’d spent the day trying not to worry so much about this child of mine, the verbal slap stung. For months, this daughter has been trying to cross the line that separates the bullied kids from the ones who, somehow, …
Kimberly Ashton
1:01 pm on Friday, November 30, 2012
Great column, Angela. It's painful to hear how a few kids at school can cause so much suffering for others. more ›