The Power Of Friendship

For those who don't know me very well, I tend to be an optimistic pessimist, someone who expects the worst and hopes for the best. And I always try to find the grain of good in whatever situation presents itself. Having a positive outlook on life has has made situations much more bearable in the past, and I'm doing my best to teach this attitude to the girls.

Lily came up this evening today, telling me with tears in her eyes about a situation with the bully today. While getting ready to head outside to play, he had torn of her hat and thrown it to his friend, making fun of Lily. There have been various situations with that kid before, so I asked Lily if she had gotten her hat back or if we should do the step and contact his parents. Lily said that her best friend had snatched her hat from the other boy and her other friend was telling off the bully, demanding that he'd leave Lily in peace.

I hugged her, asking if she was ok, and tried to help her see that this situation, as bad and unnecessary as it was, also showed her something very, very important: that she had friends she could rely on and who were standing by her side.

Seeing her eyes light up with the realization definitely was a highlight of my day!