My daughter informed me on the way to her fourth day of camp at our local aquarium last week that one of the boys in her group said he was watching her and proceeded to demonstrate how he pointed two fingers at his eyes then at her. I asked why she thought he would have done such a thing. She said, “Well, I kicked him?” “WHAT??,” I said.
I could not believe my ears. She has not hit or bit or kicked anyone since she was two or younger and then that person was ME. She is not spanked, hit or kicked at home or when she plays with her friends. How did this happen? So, I asked, “Did he kick you first?” “No, ” she said. “So, he didn’t touch or say anything to you before you kicked him,” I asked. She said no and my heart sank a little. I finally asked why she did it. She said he had his “feet down” when they were sitting at the table.
What a relief! It must have been an accident. I just had to make sure so I asked, “Did you kick him on purpose or was it just an accident?” “On purpose,” she said. WHAT?? I informed she should never do that. She knew better. And she replied, “Yes, I can. I am a girl.” WHAT??
I apparently have made a large parenting mistake. I know I said girls can do anything they want, but I was talking about careers not kicking people. Thus, I went into an explanation of why she could not kick, hit or even touch another kid at camp and being a girl gave her no permission to do anything of the sort. She argued that it was not a hard kick. Before we arrived at the drop off, I got a “Yes, Mom. I won’t do it ever again.” I began then to worry about self defense. Had I just made yet another parenting mistake.
When I picked her up a few hours later, she excitedly told me about her day. I asked if she had kicked or hit anyone. She emphatically said no. Then she said, “But that other boy, the big one, kicked me today and it was a hard kick.” Ugh.
Just don’t tell Mikey. He’ll buy her a big sharp knife to “protect herself”.