While there are many things I will miss about elementary school, there is one thing I will not miss, MEAN GIRLS. At a recent lunch with friends, one of the mothers of a kindergarten boy mentioned how shocked at how early the bullying started and at how many mean girls were in her son’s class.
Welcome to my world. Bullying and mean girls for mothers of daughter is old news. My daughter has had her share of mean girl situations starting back in first grade. For the most part, I am pretty good judge of character and can see the crazy ones coming but I can be fooled.
The last couple of years, through conversations with other parents and my daughter, I have discovered that the girls I thought would be the most likely to be bullied, in fact turned out to be the meanest girls.
You know what I mean. The girls you can barely hear when they present in class, who seem to lack self confidence, the ones who can’t look you in the eye when you ask them a question, the ones who hang onto their moms when you are talking, or the ones who parents seem so normal. Talk about not judging a book by its cover.
How many of us are fooled by the stereotype?
Is middle school going to be easier for my daughter? Maybe. Will there be mean girls, you betcha. But for me, I will be looking at each kid with a little keener eye than I used to.
Have you ever met a quiet, unassuming girl who turned out to be the Alpha Female in class?
