Back To School We Go
Posted on August 18, 2013 1 Comment
By Lesley Rousso
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the above post asking kids not to bully. I couldn’t agree more with this, which of course, got me thinking. My boys are middle schoolers now, one entering his last year and one just beginning. I like to think I’ve raised them well so far, and that they know to always do the “right” thing in regards to how they treat others. My daughter is just six and going into first grade. With girls, its so different. I’m fortunate to have an outgoing, kind, confident little girl. Girls can be mean though and even the most secure girls still get their feelings hurt. I do remind her often, to always be nice. I tell her that she may not like everyone, but unless someone is mean to her, she should just be nice. I tell her that if she has something not so nice to say about someone that she can just vent to me. She’s not instinctively a “mean girl” thank goodness.
All that being said, I feel like we as moms could take a little lesson from this. How many times have we as women walked into a new situation, and been shunned? Whether its been at your kids school, a temple, a church, whatever, it’s happened to us all and we’ve all done it to someone.
Why? Aren’t we as grown women supposed to know better? Middle school has already come and gone for us. A lot of us though, myself included, still play the mean girl on occasion. We are all cliquey with our friends, not necessarily being welcoming of someone new to the scene. How, my friends, will our kids learn to be nice if we are not showing them that we are nice? I know, that’s a mouthful but it’s true. They learn by example.
So, here’s my version of that post:
Request to all the moms returning to school in August. If you see someone who is clearly new to the situation, who may not look great, who may not be the type you’d usually befriend, stop yourself from being bitchy or aloof. Say hi, smile at them, invite them for coffee. Be inclusive. Your kindness could make a big difference in their life, your life and the example you’re setting for your child.
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