Tales of a Fourth Grade......well, sadly, recess

"Judy Blume has often shocked the delicate sensibilities of stuffy parents worldwide with her straightforward tell-it-like-it-is young adult books containing sexual situations. When I was a kid though, Judy Blume meant only one thing. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. One of my favorite books, written incredibly well, it captured perfectly what it means to be a kid with a little sibling. This book was a revelation. Nowhere else had I encountered an early reader story that wasn't afraid to say that little sibs can be annoying brats. There are roughly five bazillion books out there written specifically to coax older children into befriending their younger siblings. Far fewer are the books that recognize the difficulties these elder kids have to deal with when they're forced to abandon their personal privacy and sanity for the sake of a little brother or sister. The one book that really spoke to me about this (and was really funny as well) was Judy Blume's 1972 creation. And it reads as perfectly today as it did some thirty odd years ago." ~E.R. Bird

What is so ironic about this review is that Otto and I just read this book together over the Christmas Holidays,,,,,,,

And I'm so thankful that we had chosen this book to share because today, my sweet 4th grade boy had a, tell-it-like-it-is, life situation about his little sister that left him a little shaken.

Otto got off the bus today and came running into the house. After our ~hug and a hello~ I could sense right away that something was wrong [first he had forgotten his spelling book and we needed to head back to the school to retrieve it] and then he looked at me with those big, blue eyes and I could see the hurt in them. He started his story with "Mom, I know I'm never supposed to hit someone but I just couldnt help it!",,,,,,,,,,,,,,it turns out that on the playground at recess a little boy [C] who can be not so nice [as Otto has been in school with this boy since preschool] teased Otto and said "Your sister rides the retard bus",,,,,,,,,in front of a bunch of other children and Otto's pals. Well, Otto said that he just got so mad that he pushed [C] down. As Otto is telling me this story the phone rings and it is my neighbor, Dee Parker to tell me that her daughter Bryna came home from school all upset at what had happened and was so sad for Otto. Dee tells the same story that Otto is in the middle of telling me and also adds that Bryna told [C] that he was a "Very Mean Boy" to which [C] replies to Bryna to "Shut-up, what do you care, it is not your sister."

So here I stand, so proud of Bryna for standing up for Emma Sage, and all the children that ride the ~special little school bus~ and proud, but also so very sad for my son that he was provoked to act in a manner that is just not his nature to lash out at someone.

He was so very upset at his actions, but he was just so mad.

So tonight, after Katrina and Greta got home from sports and activities, we all talked about why some children can be so mean and hurtful and ways to deal with these types of situations.

I so wish that we lived in a perfect world and that no child has to be the target of another child's [internal hurts and shortcomings],,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I so wish that this will be the last time a situation like this will arise,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but I pray that the next time [cause you know there will be an next time as long as there are hurting children like [C] on the playground], that both Otto and Bryna and every other child that is present will act in a noble way [and my poor little guy learns to take a deep breath and not lash out, even though I fully understand his reaction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,as I had to hold back my own tears as he was telling me about what happened.]

Ugh........the trials of being a big brother in 4th grade. Otto, we love you dearly and are so proud that you stood up for your little sister.