22 October 2009

Mama Bear Eats Suzie Applewood

When Charis was 18 months old, thw two of us were invited to a tea party. It was a tea party with real tea, real scones and finger sandwiches, and real, antique, heirloom china. I spent the whole time terrified Charis would drop the irreplaceable cup on the priceless saucer and I'd spend the next dozen years trying to track down a duplicate. There were only three families there that day--mine, which consisted of me and my 18 month old; a mother with three girls between the ages of 4 and 8; and a mother (the hostess) with twin 3 year old girls. The tea portion of the outing went well--Charis miraculously did not break anything--and then all of the girls scampered off to the next room over to play. After they'd played for a few minutes, I stuck my head in to make sure Charis wasn't drawing on the walls or something. She was not drawing on the walls, but she was sitting sweetly by herself watching the older girls play, and I heard one of the twins say to her, "You can't play with us. We're BIG girls. We don't like you. You're too little. Go away."

Well, for the first time in her precious little life, my baby girl was being mistreated by another kid, and the Mother Bear in me wanted to reach over and tear this three-year-old limb from limb, because that's what Bears do. That'll teach you to mess with my kid. Being the grownup I am, though, I refrained from issuing bodily harm to the toddler and instead tried to very gently let her know that Charis was pretty much a baby and merely fascinated by the older girls. Then I smacked her upside the head.

Oh, but I wanted to.

I still have a few hard feelings towards that little girl (because I am such a mature and forgiving person), and I will NEVER forget how much I wanted to scratch her eyes out for being mean to my baby. She was only two and a half feet tall--I probably could've taken her. But time marches on, and I didn't think about this incident very much.

Until we met stupid Suzie Applewood.

She has already called my Charis "silly," and told her she doesn't want to be friends with her, which made Charis very sad. And, not that I'm bitter or anything, but even though Suzie Applewood's mother is one of the head honcho PTA people, I have never once seen Suzie dressed according to the dress code--and apparently, this is just overlooked. I guess leadership has its perks. I was very thankful the day Charis was moved from sitting next to Suzie Applewood to sitting at an entirely different table--I hoped Charis would move on, make other friends, and forget about Suzie Applewood. Honestly, we've been without a Suzie Applewood incident for a while, and I thought things had gotten better.

But this morning, we sat waiting in the drop off line, and suddenly, Charis couldn't get her bag quickly enough. "Mom!! Can I go with them? Please? Can you let me out?" I looked, and there was Suzie Applewood and her mother and sibling. Charis wanted desperately to walk into school with them. I took a deep breath, told Charis I couldn't let her out because we were still moving, and hoped the Applewoods would pass quickly. Of course, they didn't. We rolled to a stop RIGHT NEXT TO Suzie Applewood, who was kissing her mother goodbye. I had no excuse not to let my girl out. So I did.

Suzie started to walk away before Charis was fully out of the car, but Charis ran as fast as her tiny little legs could carry her to try to catch up. And even though Charis was clearly inches from her, tapping her shoulder, trying to say hello, Suzie Applewood did not turn around once. She went directly to the teacher, gave her a hug, stood in line, and proceeded to ignore Charis as if she was not even there. I would love to have simply pulled away and not watched my beautiful little girl get snubbed, but I was stuck in line. And how do you pull away from your baby girl when your heart feels a little bit broken?

All of that happened an hour ago. The morning began just fine, but at that moment, a switch flipped. I became grumpy and short-tempered and considered pulling Charis out of school so I could teach her at home, where everyone loves her and enjoys her company. Sigh. I probably won't. But this Mama Bear is having a hard time calming down. I wonder what Suzie Applewood would look like without limbs.

Conversely (because while I feel angry, I would never, of course, hurt Suzie Applewood or even be mean to her because see: mature and forgiving), I am praying that Charis will not be so enamored of Suzie and pick one of the very sweet girls and boys in her class to be friends with. Could be Neil! Or Corey! Or Bailey! Or Paris! Or Allison!

Or. Sigh. Stupid Suzie Applewood.

Clearly I will have a harder time getting over this than Charis will.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

before commenting further, i have to tell you that i HATE the color scheme with the text on your website. i LOVE your content though. i just can't read your posts without inducing migraines. i am sorry. but i was so darn frustrated reading about that IDIOT suzie applewood and having to take a break every three seconds to adjust mine tired eyes.
now, on to what i really want to say: suzie APPLEWOOD? seriously? that is the STUPIDEST name i have ever heard. and the worst kid of story in the universe. i say FOLLOW you INSTINCTS next time. and report her lack of uniform to the school. and talk to her teachers. MAN, that burns me up. i am so sorry you're having to deal with a sneaky little bully already.
violette would play with charis and love every minute.
suzie applewood. hmph.

Charis & Judah's Mom said...

hey, don't skirt the issue. tell me how you really feel about the colors, okay? what would be better? white text?

and anytime violette wants to come play with charis, it's fine by me. maybe violette could tag along to school with her. that'd be a good day.

p.s. suzie applewood is a pseudonym. but the kid's real name is no less fictional-sounding.

April said...

I thought it must be a pseudonym. Wow. Your pseudonym got dissed big time.

Girls can be sooo mean! Kindergarten seems really early for it to start.

You jest again with the homeschooling. I assure you it is the most fun thing ever. Seriously. We all love school at our house.

NLY said...

I wanted to hurt someone real bad when they said something rude about my dog. I can't imagine when it's your own child, I am steaming at the thought of it!!!!

Unknown said...

just checked back and read your reply. her REAL name is the MOST stupidest name i ever heard...way stupider than her pseudonym...whatever it is (and although i haven't been in the intellectual world much these last 5 years, i wasn't so dumb as to think it was her real name...you just have a knack for picking out things like pseudonyms). and i just have to say that "hate" is a strong word to describe my feeling about your blog text color...i was just REAL mad when i was reading the entry and i was DYING to read the whole thing and find out what happened (if you clocked that little punk or not).
i miss you. how come you don't pick up your phone ever?
my little girl is having a croup cough attack. have to run. love and miss you.