Okay. Here’s the deal. I read my daughter’s diary. I know. The ultimate violation! But she’s only 7! And I thought, what does she have to hide?

And I only did it because she made such a big deal out of me not peeking while she was writing. And I thought I was going to open the pages and find something precocious and cute that I would want to save for her childhood box for the future.

And guess what I found out? There’s a boy in her class who is picking on her.

She wrote,” I like school because I am good at math. I don’t like school because GEORGE (fake name) insults me.”

I told Randy the perfekt husband about it. Here’s how that went.

 

ME: There’s a boy in school who is picking on Julia.

RANDY: Mind your own business.

ME: But I don’t like the idea of a kid picking on her.

RANDY: What’d you think? She’d get through school without getting picked on? Everyone gets picked on. It’s how you get tough for life. Mind your own business.

 

Thanks, Dr. Spock for that insightful feedback. If only I’d adopted that attitude earlier, I could’ve saved lots of $$$ on the swimming lessons. We could have just THROWN HER into the deep end and forced her to sink or swim.

Okay. Maybe this situation isn’t exactly life or death. But I hear something like this and my inner mommy lioness wants to bare its fangs…and claws…and RIP something to shreds.

So now I turn to the REAL PROS out there…my MAMMAKAZES. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Should I say something to my daughter about this? If I do, she’ll know I read her diary. And I don’t want her to think I’m the kind of mom who snoops…even if I am. I mean, what’s more important, that she feel I trust her or that I box this boy in the ears for picking on my kid? And if I don’t say anything, can I assume she can handle it by herself? That she will become a stronger person for it? Or maybe pacify myself with weak self-assurances  that the boy “likes” her and that’s why he torments her? After all, I sported skinned knees all through third grade courtesy of Steve Vilisic who would come up behind me and push me to the ground and run off. Turned out it was his idea of courting. He probably has a restraining order against him today.

Anyway, I know it could be worse. It’s not like what I might find in her diary during the teenage years – like that she’s sneaking out at night and partying with her 23 year-old boyfriend who was just initiated into the Hell’s Angels. Or that she’s smoking cigarettes. Or has decided to become an actress. I mean. She’s just being insulted by another 7 year-old. And for all I know this means that’s he’s calling her “four-eyes”. She wears glasses.

Ah, the dilemma of trying to be a good mom in spite of having behaved like a bad mom. I’m pretty sure this was an after school special or featured on an episode of The Brady Bunch or Mr. Belvidere. But I’m too lazy to do a search on Youtube. So instead I’m asking you…

 

WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?