Is It My Kid?

I was walking today with a friend of mine that I met a couple of years ago. Our girls were in the same class and they had hit it off, we had hit it off, all was happy and new. We would see each other off and on as would our kids.

The following school year, our girls were in different classes. They had lunch and recess time together, still, but there definitely had been a shift. I didn't hear her name often. There were no requests to play with her. The mom and I didn't see each other anymore, either. When we bumped into each other, all was fine, but we didn't connect outside of that as before.

I asked my daughter if she and her friend had a falling out. She said not really. They just played different games. I asked if they could still find some games to play together, maybe, and I got the shrug off.

But I wanted to ask her more. I wanted to know if she had disrupted the friendship. I asked her, "Have you done anything to upset your friend?" She said she had not.

I wasn't convinced.
Was it my business?
Should I push this any further?
Is there a reason why I am getting involved in her friendships?

There are articles circulating right now about raising polite children, kind girls, kids who won't be a bully or a brat. I do my best to make sure my kids are well schooled on what it means to be a friend and a kind person in their world.

I wanted to begin a refresher course with her on friendship to be sure she remembered what it took to be a thoughtful person. I also wanted to stay out of it because who was ever involved in the picking and choosing of my friends when I was a child?

I realized I wondered if the lack of time I spent with my new friend was related to the lack of time our girls had with each other and I got a little panicky. What if my child had been mean and now I lost a friend?

Did I call or email? I did not. I didn't know how to approach it. I had such little time with my long standing friends, too. My socialization is at a minimum for me. I just let it all slip away.

A new school year has since begun.

Today, the mom quite easily said to me that it seemed our girls were getting along again.
"YES!" I blurted out. "I noticed that, too." I was counting steps along side of her, lost on how to ask the question,

"Was it my kid being the punk?"

What was I to do if she said yes? Would she say yes? Would she say no? Would she know either way?

Then I wondered, why do I assume my child to be the one who ended it? Why did I assume it is anyone's fault? Haven't I dropped off from being with those I used to be friendly with? Isn't that really a part of the ins and outs of years passing us by? Why did this take up so much of my thinking?

I'm still working it all out. I made sure to say that I hope my child hadn't done anything to upset hers and she said she didn't think so. I have to take that as the answer and let everything be. We even spoke of a possible get together for the girls soon. My plan is for that to include some time for us.

I find that my children are extensions of myself. My mom used to say to us as we left the house, "Your behavior is a reflection on my raising you...!" with her leaving out the inferred "Don't make me look bad." I can't help but feel the same. However, there comes a time when our children's behavior is all their own and, hopefully, with all the lessons, examples, talks, and guidance, their behavior will be a practice in kindness.

Me & My Yogi Tea. 4

How much do I listen? What percent of the time am I fully engaged? Not waiting for my turn to speak. Not formulating my thoughts to go next. Not touching, glancing, thinking about my damn phone.

Present. 

Open. 

All in. 

Listening. 

If It Isn't Yours, Then Don't Take It.

I wasn't sleeping well and decided to get up and fit in a huge chunk of reading time. While waiting for the sun to rise on my porch so I could see the pages, I was reading through some articles about the leaked pictures of Jennifer Lawrence and I got all agitated. So now I'mma gonna write.

I'm pretty sick of butt shots of the Kardasheans (sp?) and the Miley low cut tops with tongue to the side pictures. But, whatever. These women are comfortable putting themselves out there in that way which is their right to do. See-through dresses, reality shows, humping wrecking balls- have at it, ladies.

A woman like Jennifer Lawrence, though....she is just being an all around amazing actress, goofy pal, and great role model for the younger generations, thank the freaking lord. And now this. What a violation.

We know we live in a time where we have to be hyper vigilant about what we put out there because it stays forever and can be shared in the blink of a second thought. We have to teach children that what they share should represent their beauty- inside, and can violate their beauty- outside. They can make themselves victims without any breath of awareness.

What agitates me the most on this morning is the people who share and the people who look at these pictures. Does the thought of seeing JL naked sound appealing? Sure enough does! Does the thought of leering in her house to see her naked sound appealing? Nope. And that is essentially what the pictures are to me. I am not someone who feels that if someone drops something, it becomes mine. And she didn't even drop these. They were stolen. And so was her trust in what is around her. You know the panic she must have felt. She is someone's daughter.

I think, as I am wading through this, I feel like this is another example of how sometimes women exist for others solely as an object. As a desire. It is the moment when the human is lost. The value of the person is stepped on. I think about the times I have been grabbed at inappropriately by those I have known and not known when they had no business touching me. What makes me up as the person I am was non existent to them. I was purely a vessel with wide hips or freckled skin or whatever was fueling their want. My very SELF was disregarded.

So I will continue to not look at pictures. I will continue to hold the secrets friends trust with me. I will continue to talk to my children about privacy and mindfulness in their every action. I will continue to see the very self of people around me.