Got your back

Ignacio is dealing with his first case of heartbreak and exclusion at school.  A group of girls, who shall remain anonymous, have formed a clique called the "Girl Scouts."  Sounds adorable right?    This little organized group has decided that they only play with girls...and certain girls at that.  Quiet frankly they are like the mob but dressed in adorable outfits and pig tails.  They only play amongst themselves.  My little Ignacio now finds himself in a tough spot, wanting to join their reindeer games and feeling the rejection like an arrow through his little heart.  It doesn't help that the Girl Scouts sometimes have what moms may call "potty mouths" and also say mean things to Ignacio.  The newest is, "Liar, liar pant on fire." To  make matters worse, Ignacio was in a mad love affair with one of the girls who has joined the Girl Scouts.  Since her inclusion into the group she has changed, and, although she doesn't say mean things to Ignacio, she won't play with him like she used to.  At least not in front of the Girl Scouts. They were planning to marry.

 We have been talking so much about it at home and with teachers, trying to develop a plan to teach, mentor and resolve this dynamic in the classroom.  And this is where my little brave Emilio comes into the story. Today we went to pick Ignacio up and the Girl Scouts sat in a line next to him watching what he was doing.  Emilio stood in front of them, hands on hips and alternating his weight between his two little feet.  I stood back to see what was going to happen.  Emilio proceeded to ask, in his broken English mind you, why they say "Liar pant of fire" to his brother.  At that point they laughed and said, "What?" to which he repeated his question.  That is where I took over and had a hypothetical conversation with the Girl Scouts about kids who say mean things to other kids.  I even taught our family's age-old rule, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  Hypothetically speaking of course.  With that the Cisneros crew walked out.  Ignacio...we got your back.