Dear God

Here is a little prayer I sent out this morning....

Dear God, please protect my "cute as all get out" son today. He is dressed in Wall-E jammies that are too small for him and has cowboy boots on his feet (today is Pajama Day in his class). Please allow the other school children to look upon him with that 'awww how cute' feeling versus the 'you look so goofy I think I'll beat you up' feeling. I looked at him with the 'aww how cute' because HE IS, but in the big bad world of Elementary school where there are 6th graders, I have a tiny fear that others may poke fun. So, please protect my dear son from humiliation, teasing and other general mal-intent today.

On a very similar topic. I received an email from my son's teacher yesterday announcing that my son was caught spitting on another child. Boy did my heart sink at that one. I know, I know, there are worse things going on in the world and with children his age, but my Monkey is such a sweet little boy (and I know I'm biased) so to hear that he was doing something 'untoward' breaks my heart. So, the teacher asked that we have a talk with him. My husband and I played it cool. We asked him to tell what happened. I KNEW that tears would come without either of us saying a word...and they did. He knew it was not right and he felt bad. He claims that a boy was punching another boy and he wanted to protect his friend so he spit on the offender. Part of me wants to give my son a huge hug for trying to stick up for his friend and the other part (the wise parent part) has to help him see the side that was inappropriate. So we asked our son to replay the event how it should have happened. He came up with "If this happens again, I will tell Shelby to stop punching Jacob. If he does not stop punching him, I'll get a teacher to help me". That was a better 'sounding' solution but then I am left with the thoughts that my son will be seen as a tattle tail and be treated poorly.....what is a mother to do? I am hoping that we don't have many of these moments, but we'll handle what we get in the best way we can...that is all I can ask of myself...right?