I'm Such a Liar

  This morning I lied to my nine year old. And while I believe lying to your kids is ok, they need to be of the little white kind. But this was a whopper. And I knew as I was saying it that I was wrong to do it.

  I told Riley that words cannot hurt him. As he sat in front of me, in tears, I said you must ignore the words of mean kids. What a load of crap that is. No one does that. Not all of the time.

  The sad truth is words hurt. Everyone. Me, you, celebrities, even the Pope. As much as we wished they wouldn't, they do. Period. And people we like can hurt us easier than strangers.

  Poor Riley knows that being called Hitler is an insult. And a bad one. He knows that when someone says you are mean often enough and loud enough, others will believe them. And when others believe it they won't play with you. At 9 he knows this as fact. That's either very intuitive or very sad.

  But the difference between children and adults is what we know. I know that this child has issues. I know that he is unhappy in his life and is dealing with things a nine year old shouldn't have to deal with. Riley doesn't know that. And he doesn't care. He's a kid. He only knows someone is mean to him.

  My boys aren't perfect. Not even close. But they are kind to their friends. They don't make fun of others and if they do there are swift consequences. Trust me after the first time there is never a second.

  I really wish I could make it better. Make sure that no kids are ever mean to him. But I can't. The harsh reality is this will be a life long thing. There are mean people everywhere. Nothing I say or do will change that. All I can do is hug him after the fact and make sure he doesn't become that child.

  It doesn't seem like enough.

  Ang