During our morning announcements, my principal tells our staff and students daily, "Words matter. They absolutely do matter." Yesterday, Harper came home in tears....and let me tell you. Words DO matter!
In his first period class, as his table worked on a poster, Harp said to another student, "Hey, can I see your sun?" The kid responded "Ha. Ya, sure, as soon as you lose 50 pounds!" Then a second kid chimed in and said "Harper, you look like a girl. Just a really big one!"
Enough is enough, right? How do you recover from that? How does a kid pick up and move on?
I wish I could tell you that the negative words ended there. But, when Harp went to lunch, a kid said "Hey, can I have your biscuit? Ha! Nevermind, I KNOW you're gonna eat it."
What about now? Had enough? I wish.
Harp then went to PE, where they were getting ready to play flag football when a kid yelled out "Make sure you leave the big waisted one for Harp! He needs it!"
I told him I was going to email the school and he immediately said "No mom. Then I become the "snitch". I'd rather just deal with it." But, no kid no one should have to deal with that. So, I did email a handful of his teachers and principal, all who I trust completely because (as his Creative Writing teachers responded)..."we can't stop it from happening, if we don't know who's doing it."
I have always believed Harper will be a silent leader. He is a quiet change maker. And maybe this will start the change that needs to happen, but as a mom, listening as your kid tells you this...it is literally heartbreaking. Especially knowing how hard Harp has been working to improve his health and his physique. He's working out (hard) twice a week and running three times a week. He's becoming a beast and I am so super proud of him. So when kids say mean things like this....it just breaks your heart.
Chris was out of town and Warren was assisting at Cotillion, so I decided Harp and I would have a "pick me up night". I gave him the night off of "having" to go to Cotillion. We ran and picked up Chick-Fil-A and came home and watched Outer Banks (one of our favorite shows). When I told our Cotillion carpool buddy, Conner, about what happened and why he wouldn't be in the carpool, he immediately asked if he could stop by on the way home with DQ! What a pick me up!
I saw a cute video today, where a little Asian boy kept falling asleep. But the boy next to him rested his head on his shoulder so it wouldn't keep bobbing. The video ended with "Kindness is natural. Hatred is taught." I can't help but think of what kinds of homes these boys come from, where they have learned such hatred.
As Harper went to bed, I laid with him and we talked about how "sucky" some people can be. We talked about what they must be going through to have such hatred in their hearts. But then we talked about....even in that hatred, and even though it's super hard...it's important to not let that overshadow the kindness. The DQ drop offs! Harper has a handful of really great friends. We talked about how it's not important to have a lot of friends, but it's important to have really true friends.
And bless his heart, he woke up today, got dressed and even decided not to wear his hoodie today. (He wears a hoodie every day....I'm sure as a means of defense....to hide.) I'm praying for a good day, filled with people who understand that "words matter!"
