You remember the kid in elementary school, the one nobody wanted to be friends with? Maybe it was booger eating, possibly a malodorous waft in his or her general vicinity. If you don’t remember THAT kid, maybe it was you.
The kid I remember was named Jacob. Thinking back, there wasn’t a whole lot wrong with him. Mainly it was the booger eating, but also the way his clothes were always too small, so that his belly hung out, and that he wore thick glasses with the sports band around his head to hold them on. As a Mom, I can now completely understand , but as a 5th grader? Not so much. He wasn’t really teased, but nobody wanted to be his friend. The poor little fella.
So when I look at my beautiful, smart, funny, polite, non-nose-picking daughter, who is getting ready to start Kindergarten, I get this tight feeling in my stomach every time she makes a weird face. Because, people? She is making them more and more often, without even realizing it. She scrunches up her nose, furrows her brow, rolls her eyes. We’ve started pointing it out to her whenever she does it, just in a light, nonchalant way. Like, “Hey, do you need a tissue? Looks like your nose itches.”
But what the hell do I do? She’s shy to begin with, and now I’m worried that with all those crazy facial expressions she’s going to be laughed at. Just last night, on our way to Vacation Bible School (her BFF at preschool invited her, and she jumped at the chance to go) she said, “But what if the other kids laugh at me ’cause I’m new?” Kids can be so cruel, and I’m not going to be around to smack the backs of their heads.
And also, do you think the parents of THAT KID realize it?
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5 replies on “THAT kid. You know the one.”
at least you remember jacob’s name. we had a kid that everyone just called booger-eater. i have no idea what his real name was. i honestly don’t think his mom was very attentive. i think you will be able to tell if your child is not thriving or is having a hard time. i’m sure it will be fine.
I’m sure your daughter will do just fine…it is a parent’s job to fret after all! I will say though that when I was a little kid I had benign ticks, which is a mild form of Tourette’s Syndrome (which is what a doctor told me at least!) I still twitch a little, but nothing like I once did. Anyway, I doubt your daughter has this, but if it becomes an issue for her there is medication. My advice would be to let her be, and see if she brings it up to you after being at school. Bugging her about it now won’t help, BUT if she mentions it to you after being teased and asks for help she will be open to help. Bringing it up beforehand might just hurt her self esteem. Anyhoo…she is a beautiful kid, and I’m sure all will be fine. I say hang back and keep close tabs on the situation!
i love ur blog
My daughter is turning one next week and I am already worried about things like this. I have announced to my husband that I will not hesitate in “beating mean kid’s ass”, if provoked. I kid, I kid.
Well, sort of.
She’ll do fine, mom. Good luck and let us know.
She’ll do just fine. I was a mess when my eldest started kindergarten because I as convinced he was immature for his age and all the other kids would reject him. I only had to visit his class once to realize that each of the kids had some character trait of their own. He actually turned out to be one of the more popular ones.
You know, if she is shy, funny faces might be the ice-breaker to help her make friends! Good Luck!