Since the first day at school, when Olivia told me all about it, and then got annoyed when I asked again about one too many things, she's insisted that she does not want to tell anything about school ever, and has cheerfully grabbed onto my suggestion that she can keep it all locked away in her heart.
She now tells people this quite sanguinely, and it surprises them. I only said that in the context of suggesting she can keep things locked away except for the bad things, which are better told. Nup. Locked away.
Except she does come out with little drips of info, that I leap to catch. The afraid girl who sits beside her, silent, making angry faces (who isn't making angry faces anymore, and has started talking!), about their work, about stomping in the mud at break.
Today as we walked out of school into the sunny air (!) she exclaimed, 'I was scaring the big boy again. I was jumping out and going 'Raah!' and he was going like this' and she mimed jumping back in fright. I hadn't heard about her scaring the big boy before, but my heart jumped in gladness, for the big little boy who is playing with my Junior Infant daughter, for letting her be scary to a big boy. Thank you!
Then just now Xbox sent me to read Maggie Dammit's posts, Shaken and She's okay about big boys who were not kind, or careful, or indulgent. Boys who hurt her little girl, who said, 'Those boys didn't know I'm Emma. They thought I was a toy'.
So now I'm doubly grateful to the unnamed gallant.
Mind you, Olivia can be scary. When she was still a toddler, her dad took her to the community playgroup I'd been at him to take her to all year. A mother came and released her son into the group, then sat there chatting as he grabbed and hit and mayhemmed his way round the other kids. He approached Olivia, and Axel tensed, waiting for the moment when he had to get heavy with a three year old. The kid started following Olivia round, way too close. She didn't like it. She turned around and shouted into his face, NO!! I'M OLIVIAAA!!' and he ran right away.
May she continue to scare big boys.
6 comments:
Ahhhh thats so cute about the Big Boy - reminds me of the one in my little national school, who would organise 'the bumps' for the little boys/girls from the junior room on their birthdays - he was such a hero.
Sounds to me like Olivia is well able to look after herself!
Rechru! Nice to see you!
She's a cutie alright!
I was wondering, giving her this on-line name, will she develop the alter ego that bloggers inherit - such as never knowing what to call a blogger, their real name or the name on their birth cert.
Heh, well, she doesn't know... I think once you've met a blogger you call them by their real name. Unless they're cloaked in mystery, like Twenty, or ...B'dum.
Although I have to admit, I have a tendency to call you Lottie if I'm talking to other people about you.
Not that I'm talking about, as such ;)
Oh I'm here reading all the time Jo, am still shy about commenting though!
Here's hoping we can all just raise kind, confident children. :)
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