Excelle

My daughter kept getting in trouble in Kindergarten for yelling. I sat her down and was going to launch into a lecture about keeping quiet during class, and she blurted out, "But he keeps picking on me and I get in trouble for it!" Apparently, this little boy was talking about how she was fat (she is not, just not a string bean), he would poke her with his pencil eraser, and do other things that she started feeling helpless against. So I gave her an "action plan".
1. Ask him to stop.
2. Ask him to stop, then say you'll tell the teacher.
3. Tell the teacher.
4. Tell her again.
5. Yell, please stop (touching, poking, etc) me!
6. If none of that works, or you cannot get the teacher to listen after the fifth step, then mom will schedule a conference.

About 2 weeks later, I got a phone call from the principal who only told me that my sweet little girl had gotten into a physical fight. In a panic, I ran to the school. The principal told me the story, then we went in to where the kids were sitting. In front of everyone, I knelt down and asked my daughter to tell me the absolute truth of the situation. Apparently the little boy went from the daily harassment in the classroom to pushing her on the playground. She had followed my steps (she kept them on a piece of paper in her pocket..words and pictures to help her remember which step it was) and said, "Mom, no one would listen to me, and he kept it up, so after he got physical with me, I punched him to tell him I wasn't going to take it any more!" Needless to say, I praised my daughter for standing up for herself when none of the adults that I had entrusted her care would listen. The little boy was reprimanded, my daughter was no longer picked on, and I now have a little girl with a healthy self-esteem who isn't afraid to stand up for herself. What a great day THAT was!