Kaylee

I have a Kaylee story that I just heard for the first time tonight.  It's over a year old, but I think I know a few grandparents who will be at least a little proud to hear this.  Maybe a little cringy on a few parts, but at least partly proud.

So I found out tonight that a young man at school treated one of Kaylee's friends, G, badly.  Spread mean rumors about her, broke up with her in a mean way, told her she was fat, causing her to not want to eat for awhile, etc.  Kaylee was not aware of this, it was told to me by G's mom.  I bring up the topic with Kaylee, and she tells me this below related story with two completely different people:

Last year they were in the lunch room, when Al started saying some really mean and rude things to and about Ab, in public.  He kept going on, but the last straw was when he grabbed her by the arm really hard.  At this point, Kaylee got up, went over, and according to her friends, her face was red, she was shaking, her jaw was set and she was yelling.  She told Al to get his hands off of her friend, that people who cared about their girlfriends did not speak to or about them that way, and they sure didn't try to hurt them, that he was a jackass (she said that's the only time she's cussed but she thought that's what he was), that he deserved to rot with the other guys who treated their girlfriends like that, and that if he EVER laid his hands on her friend again, she'd kill him.  Apparently Al left the room in a huff, and has avoided her ever since.  Also apparently, he never again tried anything like that with Ab, and they did not stay a "couple". 

A couple things here.  When I first heard the full story about Kaylee's first friend, G, and what the young man there had said and done to her, I was angry, and as a Mom I start thinking about my daughter, and then I pictured anyone trying to push Kaylee into a locker and force a kiss on her, or tell her she's fat, and I pictured the reactions.  And I relaxed a little bit.  When she was pretty little, maybe 8 or 9, I remember one young man telling her that her hair was ugly and that she'd never be his girlfriend as long as she had such ugly hair.  I was sitting close by and heard this.  She looks over at the guy and snorts and says "There's nothing wrong with my hair--it's fine.  YOU'RE the one who is never going to get a GIRLFRIEND, because you're just a JERK."  It didn't make her insecure, it was bunk and she had the self-confidence to know it.  So I am glad to feel pretty comfortable that she will not allow a young man to get away with treating her badly, that she won't let someone else's cheap shots go too far to heart, that she won't rely on someone else to stick up for her, and that she'll stand up for her friends if need be.

Tonight she had singing lessons after school, and then I drove her out to a party with a bunch of her school friends.  It was a big bonfire, they had volleyball and a zip line and a big fenced in trampoline, all in the woods, they cooked hot dogs over the fire and the rest of us brought other food, and she stayed out there until 11 pm or so, when she asked me to come get her because she was tired.  It was adult supervised of course, all outside fun stuff, and a great way to spend a Fall Friday evening.

There was a bit more today, but it's late, I'm tired, and I'll be up fairly early tomorrow for a busy day in Terre Haute...