Growing Pains**

The other day when I was at my kids school I ran into Jackson's teacher, who, by the way, I absolutely LOVE! But that's a different story for another day. Anyways, he asked me if Jackson had told me what had happened the day before at recess. I said he hadn't so he proceeded to tell me the story.

When Jackson came in from recess he looked really upset, so his teacher pulled him aside and asked what was wrong. Jackson told him that he had just been tripped by a girl. His teacher told me that he really looked shaken up and was on the verge of crying. His teacher asked him if he needed to go to the restroom to pull himself together or wanted to go to the nurse for some ice. Jackson passed both those offers up and told his teacher that he really wanted to kick the girl or trip her back but that if he did I would kill him because he's never supposed to hurt a girl!

So, pause on that story for a minute and let me move onto another story. Don't worry, I will connect the two.

There is this girl, we'll call her Lisa.* Lisa is THE 'it' girl of the 4th grade. ALL the boys Jackson hangs with have liked her or still like or will like her. Jackson is no exception to this as he has had it bad for her for MONTHS! Lisa is fully aware of the fact that all the boys like her and changes who she likes almost on a daily basis. She has never admitted to liking Jackson though and even told him about a month ago that she knows he likes her but she doesn't like him because she doesn't like tall boys. WHAT? (I told Jackson that she'll be eating those words in 6 years when she's pining away for him and wishing he'd ask her to prom! What can I say? I think he's adorable and I can't imagine any 4th grade girl NOT liking him!) Anyways, as I said, Jackson's got it bad for her. He even asked Natalie to teach him how to play soccer better because Lisa likes soccer a lot! (As a side note, she doesn't like football, which as far as I'm concerned is one more strike against her! No offense to any of you out there who don't love football though. Its just that any girl that my boys like will have to like football! Its a family pre-requisite!) The other thing is anytime I'm around Jackson's class, Lisa and her friend make sure I know who she is. One time I was in the class and her friend was pushing her toward me saying, this is Lisa. Jackson likes her. I bet you hear a lot about her at your house. I just played that off and acted like I'd never heard anything significant about her before, as not to embarrass Jackson! And if any of you are wondering how Lisa knows that Jackson likes her, its because Jackson's friend announced it to the whole class one day back in January! Pretty embarrassing but he survived it and forgave his friend.

So now to connect the 2 stories. If you haven't already figured it out, the girl who tripped Jackson was Lisa. They were out at recess, Jack and his friends walked by her and she stuck out her foot and tripped him. He fell on his face and scraped the side of his head a bit and of course all his friends laughed and made fun of him for getting tripped by a girl. When I asked him why he didn't tell me he said he was too embarrassed because he got taken out by a girl who not only is a girl but is a girl who is smaller then him. He said it made him weak. I explained to him that tripping is way way cheap and that he could trip TJ, even though he's smaller then him and that Reece could trip me. If you're not expecting to get tripped you're gonna fall on your face regardless of how big or small the tripper and the trippee are! I think that made him feel a bit better but I was FURIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a mean little stuck on herself, too cool for school little brat! I told Jack that I didn't like Lisa because she's mean and he told me not to worry because he didn't like her anymore either! I then told him that the next time I see her I'm gonna give her a killer glare but I wouldn't say anything because that would embarrass him but Auntie Lindsay, who was visiting asked if she could do something because Lisa doesn't know who she is. Jackson said that she could and Lindsay said that she'd come to school the next day, trip Lisa and when she fell Lindsay would point at her and say, "YOU KNOW WHY!!!" Jackson thought that was hilarious and we let the subject drop!

Some people I've told this story to have suggested that the reason Lisa tripped him was because she likes him but I don't think that's the case at all. I think she tripped him because she's insecure and she wanted to be cool for her friends and for all the boys that were around him. I just think she's a stuck up little brat!

I know all these social things like friends announcing your crush, your crush not liking you back, embarrassing moments and the like are all growing pains that as adults we've already experienced but its so hard to see your kids go through it. I guess as parents we just have to hold on to the hope that we've taught them well enough to take it well, learn to laugh at themselves and not let it damage their self-confidence! I hope that my kids will always know that they are loved and accepted at home and that home is their safe haven and their shelter from ALL the storms of life! Because come on, we all know this is not the worst thing Jackson will ever have to face. Its only the beginning!

*Name has been changed to protect privacy

**Jackson gave me permission to share this story