Laughing Stock??

Third graders are an interesting breed. Sometimes so confident and sure of themselves; other times insecure and needy. And how quickly they can go from clingy and sad to being ready to take on the world, bouncing from place to place.

This week had its high points and its bumps for our 3rd grader. Getting his name in the smiley face with a check mark beside it meant lots of smiles at the end of the day; it's the teacher's way of recognizing children who make good choices and show RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) to their classmates.

But then there was the night he cried himself to sleep because a girl at lunch told him he was "being gross" because he dipped his grapes into his yogurt. He reported that she told "everyone" and now he felt like a "laughing-stock." First of all, when I was in 3rd grade, I don't think I even knew the expression laughing stock.

So we did what parents everywhere do; lots of hugs, reassurance that he's a good kid, and talked about what he could do to make the situation better. Things like sit somewhere further away from the girl, make sure he's using good table manners (and there's nothing wrong with putting his grapes in his yogurt as long as he's not making a mess), and ignoring rude comments from someone else. We talked about how 3rd grade girls don't like 3rd grade boys very much and often think all boys are gross (though I don't know if that's true any more). And we talked about how maybe the girl doesn't know how to be a friend and that he could be a good example and be nice to her and show her how to be a friend.

I don't know if any of it sank in, but the next day the lunch report was better. He sat with a new friend in his class and the girl was a couple of tables down from him. He said someone else dipped their lollipop into their yogurt and she said that child was gross. I asked him how that made him feel, and he said that he didn't think it was gross and why couldn't he have a lollipop in his lunch box.

So all is well.