1 Bully Request

Facebook is connecting my past with the present, family, friends, neighbors, study buddies, and people I barely know at all. You facebookers out there know what I'm talking about when I say it's a bizarre web of extreme coolness and awkwardness at the same time.

The other day I clicked on my little notice that said "1 Friend Request". Really? Who else do I know that isn't already on my facebook? To my surprise it was a gal from my hometown. I don't have my maiden name on my profile, but that little tidbit of missing info hasn't filtered out the old hometown people.

Honestly, I've been enjoying reconnecting with people from my childhood and teen years. I had no great ambition to reconnect with anyone there. After I graduated from high school, I disconnected all of my high school friendships and made little to no effort to keep the few friendship threads alive. I do have a big whopping total of three people that I always wondered how they were, hoped they were well and happy and successful. I did see people from high school when I went home to visit, but I rarely go back. And when I do, it's small talk, nothing substantial.

Facebook is kicking life back into my old childhood friendships and I have discovered that there are some great people out there and I was really missing out on some nice friendships! However... not all of them are so wonderful.

I got a friend request from an old school bully. I wouldn't say she tormented me, but I would say her bullying was on the edge of what could be considered "torment". She made sure every moment in her presence was a miserable one. I was never friends with her and I haven't heard from her or about her since 1983. Can't say I missed her either. From age 6 to 18 I couldn't stand being anywhere near her and now she wants to be my facebook friend?

I sat in my home, comfy and enjoying some computer time while my precious little ones were playing on the floor nearby and I found myself staring at this little photo of a nice looking 45 yr old woman blowing a kiss, and I just felt like an over-teased little kid for a moment. Gah!

I simply don't care if this one person has changed or not. Maybe she is wonderful. I don't care. Maybe she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Don't care. Maybe she gives to charity, pays taxes, volunteers. Yeah, don't care. Maybe she's rich and famous. Good for her. Don't care.

On the other hand... maybe she's in prison. Maybe she is dying. Maybe she has financial woes. Maybe she needs help. Well, I don't care. And I'm not curious enough to find out. Cold and bitter? Gosh, I guess I might be.

Did you know I could hold a grudge for decades? I really should get over it! But not today! There was no hesitation on my part when I clicked "DENY the Bully!"

Adventures at Baby Playgroup

I took Gracie to baby playgroup yesterday. It's actually a breast feeding support group, but only about half the people who go are breastfeeding and we never even talk about feeding, it's just playtime! We haven't been there all summer, so when Daddy needed some time to work at home without anyone helping him throw his papers all over the house, we made a return trip to baby playgroup.

The group is led by lactation consultants/nurses. This time it was led by a different nurse than the usual gal. It went well for the most part. The toddlers played and the infants had to be protected from the toddlers. The usual. One of the mommies has twin girls the same age as Gracie. They had a good time playing together. The twins just started to walk, till now they've been scooting in a seated position instead of crawling. So, the nurse says to the mom "The crawling phase is very important. Babies who don't crawl are most likely to have learning disabilities. You better teach them to crawl." I swear, everyone in the room dropped their jaw to the floor! I don't know why that nurse didn't just beat her up too, may as well have! I really thought that was out of line to talk to that mom in that manner in front of a group and with that blunt tone. Plus, skipping the crawling stage does not cause learning disabilities!

Why can't little Johnny read by age 9? Oh, he didn't crawl before he walked. Well, that certainly explains things!

Otherwise, playgroup went well. The toddlers played, drooled on each other's toys, drank out of each other's sippy cups, laughed, threw things, etc. Good times!

And since I'm on the subject of baby group, I'll paste below a story from the archives about another day at playgroup for your entertainment...... here it is:


She's a Bully! May 3, 2007
I take Gracie to a baby playgroup every Tuesday. A couple of weeks ago, we were at playgroup and in comes a new mom with her brand new baby and her 3 yr old boy. The boy had a handful of cars and trucks.

Gracie crawls up to him really fast and grabs him to pull herself up, which he doesn't enjoy much. His mom says "Be nice to the babies". So, Gracie then grabs a truck from his hands and he starts to cry. She kind of crawls away with it. He is fussing to his mom and she says "share". Ha! Gracie wins!

Then Gracie crawls around behind him and grabs his pants again to pull herself back up and she knocks him to his knees. He starts to cry. His mom rolls her eyes and ignores him, so I let it go too. But, while he's on his knees, Gracie backs up and then..... she comes at him full force and body slams him so he does a face plant. Remember, his hands are full of trucks.

While he's laying on the floor bawling, Gracie takes this opportunity to climb over him. After all, he is laying on the floor! She dives over the top of him and while doing so, she kicks him in the face with her shoe. Ok, now he's really crying! He puts his little hands up to his face and that's when Gracie seizes the opportunity and takes all his trucks and cars!

Once she's got the loot, she's scampering away to the other side of the room.

All the moms were just wide-eyed and stunned. Gracie just beat down a 3 yr old twice her size!