A Brush With Bullying. In Preschool!?

Yesterday I picked JD up from school and drilled him on his day while we drove to meet our friends for dinner. JD told me someone made fun of him. My mouth dropped open and I almost turned around, but I was driving. Did JD have his first run-in with a bully? At 4!?

“OK, tell me what happened, bud,” I said calmly, imagining the worst possible scenario: Someone punching him on the playground and calling him a baby when he cried out in pain.

“Well, there’s a new boy in my class named *Kevin. And he called me Jack COPA.” (Think Copacabana)

I laughed out loud. People have called me Christine COPA since I can remember. Apparently JD did not get into a fist fight.

“OK, what did you tell him?” I asked.

“That my name was Coppa. Not Copa and that Copa was wrong and that he should call me Coppa, but he didn’t listen to me and kept calling me Copa and I got sad and then my friend *Dan told him to stop. So he stopped,” JD said.

"Well good for you, for sticking up for yourself. Always tell Mommy or the teacher if someone makes you feel sad or mad," I told him.

"I will, Mom," he said.

"He kept calling you 'Copa' because he saw it was making you sad. Don't ever make your friends sad." Sob.

I think it’s great JD was able to recognize that someone was teasing him. I think it's swell that he asked him to stop. I think it’s AWESOME that his friend stuck up for him. I don’t really consider this “bullying,” but down the road if someone bullies/teases JD he’ll know how to respond. And hopefully a friend will be there to back him up, like *Dan did. Read: How To Handle Preschool Bullies

However, my son should get used to people calling him "Copa." Basically for the rest of his life. There’s a mention in Rattled! about a receptionist at a doctor’s office calling me "Christine Copa" and how the song Copacabana immediately played in my head.

Happy Friday!

Any minor brushes with bullying to report? Please share.

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