New School Year

The Chaos Kids constantly amaze me. Day in and day out, they find ways to get over obstacles, and they keep right on moving. I get a complaint here and there, but for the most part they deal with issues well.

Starting school up again in the fall is never an easy process. You worry about who will be in your class(es), who to sit with at lunch, what to wear, what clubs to join, what teachers you'll have... Sometimes it all works out well and we glide through the year smoothly. Sometimes. Not.

I've had years in my youth that were peppered with bullies and harassment. A few years in particular really stick out in mind. 6th grade, 8th & 9th grades, and believe it or not... kindergarten. 6th grade had to of, by far, been the worst for me, though. The harassment and bullying was so severe that I had to go for weekly counseling sessions with the school counselor, and the principal had the whole lot of us in his office several times trying to sort it all out. My mom was likely at her wit's end trying to understand the situation as kids who had just recently spent much time at our house as friends began to harass me on a pretty severe level.

Well, like my Chaos Kids, I overcame. I made new friends, found ways to avoid the bullies, and moved on with my life.

I pray the Chaos Kids never have to worry about bullies.
Louisa is a spitfire. I'd like to see a bully try to mess with her. Well, I wouldn't... but if one did they'd get quite an earful. She's witty, sarcastic, passive aggressive, and highly intelligent. She'll twist you up in words you don't understand, and spit you out with sarcasm so dripping that you'll think you just took a shower.

Drew has had a few teensy run-ins on his 2nd day of school. He is a bit worried about "being surrounded by a pack of bullies". Hey, who isn't?! We talk a lot about rational and irrational fears, so he knows the difference. I'm not really sure which one that is, though.

So as we truck through yet another school year, and we try to maintain a non-bully zone around our children, all we can really do is the best for our kids that we can. We can work to prepare them for let downs and disappointments. We can cheer on their every single accomplishment.
Mostly, though, we can pray that everything we're doing is on the one right path that God is leading us, and our kids, on.