Push Down For What You Belive In

Everyday, when I pick Muffin up from school, I ask the teacher how her day went. Usually the teacher will say something along the lines of "Oh, it was fine." or "She did great." but today was different. Today the teacher hesitated and we all know what that means.

"Did she have a bad day?" I asked, thinking about her recent bouts of clinginess.

"Well, she did hit a little boy," the teacher replied. Then, turning her back to the kids she whispered "But it was Gavin, so I really can't blame her."

"Oh." That does explain part of it. Gavin is a super obnoxious little boy who seeks out attention by behaving like a monster. I'm sure he's not really a monster, but apparently that's the only way he's learned to get people to pay attention to him. Though most kids Muffin's age are pretty easy going as far as friendships are concerned, not many of Muffin's classmates want to be friends with Gavin. Sad, really.

However, even if he did provoke her, Muffin knows better than to hit. When we were in the car I asked her about the incident. First, the automatic response:

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it."

Which is, of course, nonsense. This "apologize quickly and save my ass" reply is something that I should anticipate hearing quite often in the next ten to twenty years. *sigh* I responded with:

"Muffin, you know better than to hit. Please tell me what happened so we can talk about it."

"Well," she began "He was saying a wrong thing to me. So, I pushed him."

Knowing Gavin, lots of uncomfortable "wrong" things he could say to her were running through my mind. I was wondering if I was going to have to phone his mother when I asked: "Really? What wrong thing did he say, exactly?"

"He said that frogs don't live in the forest. And they do." Muffin replied self righteously.

"Ah ha." So, nothing naughty after all. What a relief, and what a funny little girl. While we all know that pushing/hitting isn't behavior to be condoned, I'm proud of my baby for pushing down standing up for what she believes in. Even it's only the habitat of frogs.