Kimberly and Caitlin’s Story

“My daughter came running into the house really upset one day. She had just heard that another girl in the neighborhood had started a nasty rumor about her, and she came in to get her sneakers so she could find this girl and fight her. I told her, ‘You get her, honey! How dare she talk about you!’ Tears in her eyes, my daughter hugged me and then went in her room for her sneakers. She came out and was heading for the door, when I stopped her and told her, ‘You aren’t going anywhere.’ She looked at me with big eyes, ‘But mom, you just said…’ ‘I know what I said. When you came running in here you were hurt and needed a friend. So I said something a friend would say. But now, you’re on your way out, getting ready to do something that could get you hurt, and you need your mom. You’re not going out that door.’ And she didn’t. Instead we had a long talk about the importance of being true to yourself. She didn’t need to go and fight this girl. My daughter needed to believe in herself enough to know that her friends and the people she really cared about wouldn’t believe the rumor. She needed to know that people can only push your buttons if you let them and that violence is never a good solution. It was a good reminder for both of us.”