Be Yourself - Everyone Else is Taken!

Quirky, funny, kind, compassionate, sweet, tomboy, talented, stubborn, smart, dry, independent, clumsy, fiesty, God fearing, fun loving, and precious.

These adjectives describe my little sister. Anyone who reads my blog knows the love that I have for this child. I love her as if she were my own. When she smiles, I smile. When she cries, I cry.

Paige had an experience last week that made her question the adjectives that I used ot describe her and it made me sad. Things did work out in the end, with valuable lessons to be learned along the way.

Since the fourth grade, a little boy in Paige's class has been pulling the edges of his eyes to Paige. Her fourth grade teacher took care of it for us then. In fifth grade it happened again. We chalked it up to "boys will be boys" and he is just immature. Well, wouldn't you know, Paige was walking to the gym on Friday and said kid stood in front of her and wouldn't let her by. He started pulling at his eyes again. This time, Paige's little guy friend (yes she still has the SAME boyfriend...ack), came up to the boy and shoved him out of the way so that Paige could pass.

I picked up Paige and two friends from school Friday afternoon to take them to a sleepover. As soon as they got into the car, Paige said, "He did it again". I knew exactly what she was talking about. I listened to her. I heard the sadness and doubt in her voice. It broke my heart. Paige is extremely well liked by her peers and sometimes they make her head too big. She is so full of positive self esteem, but she was like a wilted flower speaking about the incident.

For the life of me, I couldn't let this go on any longer. In fact, I probably let it linger for longer than it should have. I took P and friends to the party and came home and looked in the school directory and got this child's phone number. I dialed it up without really planning how I would handle the situation. His mother answered and listened and listened. She didn't sugar coat the situation or make excuses for her son. She apologized and said that she would talk to him.

The phone rang an hour later and she asked if she could bring "him" over to speak to Paige. I told her Paige would be home after the sleepover and they could come the next day. Bright and early on Saturday, the mom brought her son over. She stood back at the bottom of our steps and this young man rang the doorbell. Paige opened the door and received an apology from a teary eyed little boy. He didn't look so big and bad standing there with all of the adults around.

I was so proud of Paige. When he apologized she didn't say "It's ok", because she told me it's not. She told him that it really hurt her and that he needs to be more careful with his actions. WOW! I was stunned. He agreed and gave her a hug. She smiled and told him "let's still be friends, k?" He smirked and agreed.

Do I think they will ever be the best of friends? No. Do I think he learned something? Maybe. Did I learn something? Yep! My girl is a sweetheart and is forgiving and stands up for what is right. I love her so much!

Her dance competition was this weekend. At these competitions, the vendors sell tshirts with the companies name on the front and dancers on the back. This time, there was one more option. The shirt she chose said, "Be Yourself. Everyone Else is Taken". I couldn't agree more!!!









Check out other black and whites at my friend, Lisa's blog!