Making fun

All the kids on my block used to make fun of me. I used to say it was because I was always so bony skinny but I think they knew that I was weak, unconfident, and would take their crap.

There was this one asian kid who was the ring leader, Wing. He was about a year younger than me and would always and I mean always get everyone else going. I was in first or second grade when they moved onto the block, and that's when it started. He would say something in that sing-songy evil voice "Stacy is a blah-blah -- NA NA NA NA NA NA" and I would chase him (yes, I am disclosing my name -- it's a little weird but it just doesn't seem right putting a fake name in that quote since I can actually hear it running in my head over and over). Then everyone would join in and I would have to run after everyone. I never caught anybody and to be honest, I don't know what I would have done if I did. I really just wanted them to stop and be my friend.

Sometimes I would run away, far far away.... around the block and hide in this driveway. I would sit there and cry and hope that someone would come find me. Sometimes they did and on girl, Lisa, who pretended to be my friend, would bring me back.

It was this horrible game, this horrible cycle I let myself be a part of. They suckered me into so many things all the time and I would do it, take it, just to hang out with them. I wish I had more of a backbone but no one taught me how. My grandmother used to tell me to "just walk away." Ugh. How about "Stand up for yourself!" Why didn't she ever tell me to do that?

Well now, my daughter is in a similar, much less drastic debacle and I need advice. She's only 3 1/2 but she has this one 4-year old friend who is a ring leader, a kid who likes to make fun. But her mom lets her get away with it because her sing-songy evil voice is saying things like, "Ladybug is a Bunny Rabbit. NA NA NA NA NAAA NA." And my poor little Ladybug hates it. But she just whines and cries and says "STOP IT!" The more her "friend" does it, the more she whines and cries.

I've told the "friend's" mother that we really don't like that kind of talk, and sometimes she will scold her kid but not always. I've even told the kid to stop myself and she doesn't. Sure, maybe my daughter is slightly easy to tease because of her overly dramatic and somewhat sensitive personality. I think the mother sees my daughter as a kid who needs to grow a little bit of a backbone. But honestly, my kid is not like I was. She's far from shy, pretty confident and very outgoing.

And I try to explain to Ladybug that if she would just stop crying about it and ignore it, maybe her friend would stop. I tell her to ignore this kid and go play with the other kids. I try to tell her do the same thing back. I try to tell her to tell her friend that she isn't going to play with her if she keeps it up. Sometimes these things work and sometimes they don't.

What I want to my little Ladybug, is to punch her "friend" in the mouth. Is that wrong? That must be wrong.