To Save Our Friendship

I learned a few important things the other day:

1. Bullying starts in first grade, apparently.
2. First grade girls are vicious.
3. Girlie can handle it with aplomb.

I was picking up carpool when her teacher flagged me down.  I immediately did the parent thought process, "Uh oh, what happened?  What did she do?  Wait, she is the one who never has behavioral problems.  Was there a spelling test?  A math test?  Did I forget her lunch?  If she was hurt, the school would have called, right?"

These, and a thousand other thoughts that were a lot worse, went running quickly through my head.  And then everything stopped as her teacher explained what had actually happened.

Apparently, there have been bullying incidents happening in the class among the girls.  Enough to the point where the teacher has been making a point to address it with the class on a regular basis, and teach them how to not be a bully and how to make nice choices. 

He said that while he was on the playground, he noticed a little girl starting to bully Girlie.  Concerned that Girlie wouldn't know how to handle the situation, he headed over to intervene.  He came to a halt though, when he heard what Girlie said in response to the bullying.

"Well, I'm going to walk away now.  You are hurting my feelings, and to save our friendship I need to take a break from you." 

And then Girlie walked passed her teacher and went to play with a different group of girls. 

At lunch, the teacher noticed Girlie and the girl who had said mean things earlier sitting together.  So he asked Girlie what had happened earlier. 

Girlie said, "I told her how I felt.  She said she was sorry.  We took a break and now we are friends again." 

Her teacher told me that he had never seen a first grader act that way before.  And he was really proud of her for it. 

So am I.