I walked into the kitchen this morning to hear my daughter (Allison) describing how there were kids on the bus that were making fun of her. My first instinct was to ask, "What are their names and where do they live?" But I resisted the urge and listened as she explained that the bullying was done by older kids on the bus making fun of the way people dressed, and the way their hair looked.How sad I thought that they learn that stuff at such an early age. How sad that my daughter has to ride a bus and endure that crap. How sad that there are kids that will influence in the negative rather than the positive.
But there was a ray of hope. My wife asked what she did when this happened and my daughter reported that she ignored it. Hooray for her - it took me numerous counseling sessions just to get some adults to realize the benefit in ignoring other peoples negative behavior.
Of course the problem remains. Even though she is able to ignore it I know it still hurts her. She is kind, loving and does care what other people think of her. To her the world is still ultimately good.
As I dropped her off at school this morning (at the butt-crack of dawn) I just sat there and watched her slowly walk through the big doors. Her backpack is wider than she is and it looks like it goes from her neck to her knees. But there she was - entering an establishment of learning. I just pray that the learning is positive and that the negative influence is in such small doses that her overall experience is good.
As I drove away - it was with a sad heart and a desire to go back and say, "Forget school - we're going to go hang out all day - just the two of us."
Of course that's probably the way God thinks about us too.
