Whose Kid Is That?

I'm still trying to decide if I'm proud or embarrassed.... Proud, I think.

As I dropped LM off at school this morning, we spotted his little "nemesis" being escorted to class by her really super intimidating dad. (Towering with tattoos and piercings.) I've been hearing a lot about this little girl lately. Apparently she and LM share a mutual friend and Bully Girl doesn't want him to have anything to do with her. She'll even shout taunts at him on the playground and then try to run him off. Sometimes it's rough being a kid....

So LM stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, and I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head about what his next step of action would be. Being aware that LM has no filter on his mouth whatsoever, I leaned over and whispered, "LM, don't say anything to her right now, she's with her dad and it might hurt his feelings." Oh, LM, please, we don't want to hurt his feelings! But apparently this gave him an idea. He marched directly over to the girl and her father. Oh. No.

"I gotta talk to you about somefin," LM said, poking the man in the arm to get his attention. The man crouched down to be at eye level with LM. I braced myself. "Your daughter is kinda mean to me," he went on. I laughed nervously and was about to retrieve my boy and shuffle him off to his class, but the dad said, "oh?" clearly wanting to hear more. I braced myself again.

"Yeah, she teases me on the playground and says that I want Auna to be my girlfriend, and it makes me sad!" He then plastered a magnificent frown on his face that warned of impending tears. It was an incredibly heart-wrenching performance. I waited. The dad said, "well I'm going to talk to her about that!" and proceeded to have a mini-conference with his daughter right then and there. I could hear her small squeaky protests as he spoke firmly to her. LM just walked away and got in line for class, the whole thing already behind him.

I stared at him for a moment. The boy has no inhibitions whatsoever. And while this fact terrifies me in ways words can't describe, I also have to admire the little dude. Would I have the guts to do what he just did? Heck no! Anyone who knows me could tell you that. I would have written her a scathing anonymous letter-- take that! But I could learn a few things about boldness from LM. Maybe, just maybe, he'll start to rub off on me someday.