What my child taught me.

4 1/2 years old

I have been blessed as far as childcare is concerned. Madison's grandmother has kept her ever since she was 8 months old. As part of this, though - she nor I - have experienced much of the normal social interactions between kids. What I'm trying to say is that Madi hasn't had as much social exposure as, say, a child in daycare. She is starting Pre-K in August, so I'm sure her social skills will improve and I'm excited about that. However, a BIG part of me is very nervous and scared for her.

Madi spends a lot of time with her cousins and does go to playgrounds so she has dealt with the occasional rudeness from other kids. My fear is that I will not have the right words to say to her or the right reaction to help her cope with these "bullies." When do you need to intervene and let the teacher know what's going on? When do you need to let the children handle it? When do you need to tell her to be tough or give her a hug? This stuff is tough.

Last night Madi was telling me about how one of her cousins hurt her feelings. (They are best friends so they act like brother and sister. It's very typical of both of them.) I asked her what we could do to help him be a bit nicer. She said "I could tell him about Jesus." Wow. You know, my first reaction was to call his mom and fuss about him being mean to my child. My child's first reaction was to show him LOVE by telling him about Jesus who loves him and "will help him be nicer." I learned a lot from Madi last night. She also said when people know Jesus they are nice. If every person who loves Jesus was consistently a nice person, this world would be a wonderful place. And if every person who loved Jesus aimed to teach their enemies (harsh for this example, but I'm trying to make a point) about Jesus, this world would be even more amazing.

So, I guess my question here is this - how do I help Madi deal with "bullies" once she gets to school, but also what have you learned from your children lately?

Children truly have innocent minds and with that come some lessons we could all benefit from. :)

Happy Wednesday.