Bullies

Yes, as it turns out, even in homeschooling you run across bullies. They are in our midst. They aren't bad kids. They are our kids. They need guidance. They need empathy. They need to be recognized.

I am very unpopular right now because I want to be up front about it all. Others would rather it go away, was down played. They want to only talk to the children, not the families. They want to have a sentence or two said to all be the extent of it, for now, with promises of a later "learning experience."

Things that happened can't be undone. No one can go back and tell the young girl that she's isn't less-than simply for being young. That she deserved to share in the special password-protected club that her older friends had. No one can go back and put a girl's bed and belongings back before she notices that she was chosen to be excluded from the sleep-over.

I can, however, make sure that these girls and their parents know that I do care. That as one of the leaders in the group, even in absentia for these events, is going to deal with this. This was not addressed enough or in the right manner or something last year and now it has blossomed. I need those girls to know that this blossom is being pruned. It will no longer grow and flourish.

I feel responsible, though there was nothing I could have done. I feel sad, for the girls and for those who feel upset and/or threatened by my words and actions. I feel like crying and quitting and running away. But I can't, I have to stand up and be the adult and deal with this. I know that I am right even if I am unpopular. I guess that's what being an adult is all about.