If I had to choose, I'd take the physical exhaustion of boys over the emotional exhaustion of girls ANY DAY.
Turns out that while sticks and stones can break your bones, words, too, can really hurt. In honor of proving that out-of-date childhood adage incorrect, the week of January 21st-25th has been set aside as No Name Calling Week.
By the early school years, most youngsters have experienced unspoken -- but not unsubtle -- acts of social aggression that shake the carefully laid foundations of their self-image and beliefs about friendship.
This year, one of my daughter's friends told her she doesn't have straight hair and shouldn't play with them. Then she started ignoring my daughter. I know that my child feels hurt and I'm concerned about her. Signed, Worried Mom
Sometimes, a demand for fairness has everything to do with a wrong that needs to be righted, but just as often, "It's not fair" is kid-language for "I'm soooooo jealous!"
My daughter had her first heartbreak at the tender age of four. The good news is that children are resilient and can move on.
Anger and physical aggression in girls and women is typically deemed inappropriate. We are taught to deny, suppress and hide these feelings, but that's not necessarily the healthiest response.
Why do we take as a given that membership in a group should depend on being broken, demeaned and humiliated?
