Something kind of huge happened at the school drop off this morning. Something that has never happened to me before and I’m left feeling on the edge about it.

Eli and I walked Logan down to his line despite the fact that all of last week I had said my good- byes to him at the top of the sidewalk. But since we were walking with friends, it seemed OK. We arrived at the line just a moment or so before the kids started heading inside. And what happened next all went so fast and left me reeling and wondering if what I had done was the right thing.

I looked at Logan, then looked away a second, then looked at him again thinking I would go say our good-byes, but then noticed a boy who we know to be a trouble-maker, was standing in front of him with his glasses in his hands. The naughty boy had my son’s glasses in his hands! This is the second time in eight days that Logan’s glasses have been in the hands of someone else! Before I knew it, my index finger was pointed right in this boys face and proceeded to wave around as I spoke the words, “Did you take these off my boy’s face? Did you? These glasses are Logan’s property and are to remain on his face at all times! I don’t ever want to see you with them in your hands again! Got it?”

This is no joke. That really happened. And, by the way, the boy did answer “yes” in response to my first question of whether or not he took them. So when I put my finger away and finished spouting out at him, the boy gave me big eyes as if to say, “Geez!” or “Whoa!” Then in an effort to lighten the moment after crazy mom made her brief appearance and left again, I patted the boy on his shoulder and told him “Thank you.”

And when I turned and looked at Logan, the look on his face made me wonder if I had embarrassed him! I told him I was so sorry if had, but explained that I couldn’t let that happen, considering only a week ago today, he was harassed on the playground by that girl who snatched his glasses off his face three times and ran off with them!!

He said it was OK and let me hug him good-bye. I was freaked out after that with racing adrenaline and felt grateful that one of my friends was waiting for me. She hadn’t seen what happened but after I told her, she completely had my back. She, too, has had first hand experience in dealing with this boy. 

But I fear that the naughty boy will retaliate on Logan during recess or something. This is all new to me. I wish I would have had more time to talk with Logan before he had to go inside. I need to trust that all will be OK today. My friend said she doesn’t believe that the boy is known to retaliate. He will probably take what I said and just not do it again. I’m pretty sure I agree with her. We’ve been around this guy going on two years now. But they are getting older and bigger and the scaredy pants in me keeps fearing the worse case scenario. We can only hope that should anything more come of it, Logan will remember what Chris and I and his teacher taught him last week about seeking help from the teacher on duty, or any teacher, and that standing up for himself is highly encouraged and totally acceptable.

What happened is a big deal because I’ve never even stood up for myself like that before. No lie. And most times when I hear that someone’s been giving my boy trouble, well, I’m pretty mouthy about it, but only in the comfort of my own home and among friendly ears. Never have I had an opportunity to actually stand up for one of my  boys right when the moment calls for it. I usually imagine my defense tactic as kicking the culprit in the shin. It’s good that didn’t happen for real, I guess. 

I am proud of myself for standing up for Logan and also relieved that I know I can do it. And standing up to a naughty boy, even, who I have personally been intimidated by in the past.

Chris and I are counting down the minutes until school lets out today so that we can see how the rest of the day went, ask him how he really felt about my words with the boy, and have a serious talk about him defending his personal space. 

These are learning times, my friends, for him and for us. I know it is wrong to live in fear. Fear is a cunning opponent. Times like these make me long for his smaller years when I could just have him home with me and in the safety of my arms all the time.