Overprotective moms....

got into a discussion the other day about bullies and hazing and protecting our kids from harm. i was listening to these moms say that any time their kid has an argument or a run in at school...they rush up there, rip the principal a new one and demand that something be done to protect their kid!! ranting and raving about the physical and psychological damage that bullying causes. now, i don't deny that it can cause damage...but, i don't think it has to.

we, as parents, can only do so much to protect our kids. we can't be there 100% of the time to watch over them, nor should we be. there are things we can't control and that stuff happens. bad things happen....they just do. if parents had the power to prevent bad things from happening to kids....they wouldn't happen. there wouldn't be any accidents, molestations, abductions, etc.... there wouldn't be a parent out there who would "let" any of these things happen to their kid.

the best way for us to protect our children is to teach them to protect themselves.there are most def circumstances where adults should intervene, but for the most part...teach your kid to stick up for himself.

how about teaching your kid at home about bullies and the sort...why they do what they do...that they should never let someone else influence how they feel about themselves...teach them to be more aware and not set themselves up in a situation where they could be bullied...teach them to use intelligence and wit to outsmart bullies...teach them to rally their friends and plan something to get the punks (not to hurt anyone) if they are being bullied. if taught these things at home to fight their own battles in the world, then these kinds of situations would build character instead of destroy it.

i know kids can get hurt when this stuff gets out of hand...that's the flip side...but, you can't control other people. no matter how hard we try, we can't stop people from being mean, or evil, or stupid....we have to teach our kids how to handle these situations.

losing my son didn't make me more protective...it showed me that no matter what...shit happens. all the "want to's" or "should have's" or "could have's" in the world wouldn't have saved my son...so, i've learned to lighten up and enjoy life a little...and let my kids enjoy theirs as well!!