Friday, March 4, 2011

The Drama Of First Grade (If You're A Girl)

Last night I managed to get my girls in to the bathtub and nicely washed, dried, brushed and clipped. During that time Ayla's mouth turned on and told me all sorts of interesting facts about life in first grade.

B***** has been really mean lately. She told E*** a secret and guess what it was?

What?

She told E*** that she's sick of me, but that's OK because E*** isn't sick of me. Guess what?

What?

B****** and M** are boyfriend and girlfriend now and that's really weird. He came up to her at lunchtime and asked if she would be his boyfriend. She said yes. It's so weird.....

Why is it weird?

Because she used to not like him, but now I guess she does like him. Love him I mean. Oh, and guess what else?

What?

At recess D**** tried to kill M*****.

At this point the story stopped, because Micah and I started laughing so hard. More than likely this is a location joke. You know, you had to be there. It's just the way she said it with such drama. It was mean to laugh. I might have been able to hold it in if I hadn't caught Micah's incredulous eye.

Ayla, what do you mean he tried to kill her? What on earth did he DO?

He was hurting her and I could tell he was trying to kill her.

As much as this tickled me last night (and still does to a certain extent). It gave me pause today. I started thinking about this particular boy and the picture I've been able to paint of him and his probable home life. The sad fact is that you never know when to take kids seriously anymore when it comes to certain talk and play. When Micah was in kindergarten a boy in his class got sent home from school for bringing used shotgun shells to school. Sigh. I don't really know the purpose of this post. I guess I just want to say that I'm glad today is the last day before Spring break. I am looking forward to us having our kids to our selves for nine days in a row.

11 comments:

All American Family said...

ugh...and I'm sending my sweet, innocent first "Baby" off into the big bad world next year. (whaaaaa!!)

Gary said...

Yeah, it's tough. But look at it this way Mindy, I survived it, you survived it, my kids survived it, your kids WILL survive it. The more you worry about it, the harder it is to deal with. Be careful of looking for a boogie man behind every bush.

Mindy said...

it's true we all survived gary, but i really do think the world is quite a bit worse now than it was then.

Todd said...

We both laughed OUT LOUD before reading on that you thought that was a location joke. Not if you can hear Ayla and her drama in your head at will, I guess. ;) You painted the picture quite well. We can easily imagine Micah's "incredulous look," too. :) Oh, we miss you guys so much...

It is sad to think about playground bullies and what their home life must be like, but I have to agree with Gary. I got bullied, too, and even had a friend held up by the throat in front of my house, but statistically it is still quite rare for kids to kill each other. The odds of being hurt in a car accident are much greater, I'm sure. Oh, and that shotgun shell thing... so ridiculous! I once brought a shotgun to school and demonstrated how to clean it in speech class!

mom 2 4J's said...

I too could see the expressive secret telling and Micah's look! I just love the things they come up with:-) But, I remember the first grade drama:-) "So and so doesn't want to be my friend anymore. etc."I'm with you on thinking that the world is worse than it was when we were kids. That's not the reason we started homeschooling, but there have been several times through the years, like when we hear about school shootings, that I am thankful we were ever brought down the homeschooling path :-)Miss you guys!!

Mindy said...

i think i didn't make myself quite clear. not sure if i can explain my muddled thinking. i don't think that the boy was really trying to kill the girl. i just wonder what he has had to endure himself in his short life. you would know what i mean if you could see this family. and i think the shotgun thing is ridiculous as well. it's just sad that boys can't really be boys anymore in the tome sawyer & huck finn sort of way. it's a different world & i just feel a bit melancholy about it today! miss you all too, btw.

Anonymous said...

I smiled all the way through this conversation... took me back to Sarah's first grade days! And yes, the drama still continues.

Our kids came home with bully stories, too. Yes, you have to wonder what he goes through other places to need to act out at school. Those were good times to remind our own kids to be kind to someone, even if you don't like what they do... it may be the only kindness they experience that day.

Cherish your spring break days with your little family!

Anita said...

I grinned, too... and I don't even know them personally yet. :) (the other part- well, I've got nieces and nephews in school and I take deep breaths for them and hope and pray that all will be well for them in school.)

Christina said...

Oh my Mindy, we're starting to hear some of the same stories at our house already, when Ava comes home from preschool-the DRAMA is right!

Jenny said...

First grade was when the drama started here too: "Alicia is trying to break me and Angelica apart"...I heard that almost every day. Funny thing, after saying how much she disliked Alicia for the last several years, R recently invited A over to play and they had a great time.
Ayla's story was hilarious to me too. I can just hear her, and see Micah's face :)

janis said...

I love it when kids start talking and you hear their perspective of their day. But it is sad to think about the story behind their story and what's going on in these other little kids lives.