Right around the time Scorch was born, I learned about the phrase “helicopter parent” and I vowed I’d never been that mom.

Yeah- never say never. Now that Scorch is in school I total get that urge.

Since school started, Scorch has had on- again/ off-again issues with one of the boys in his class.  This little boy is either excluding Scorch from things OR not letting anyone else play with him and Scorch when the two of them are together.  Either way, Scorch comes home upset at least weekly over this.  When he’s being excluded his feeling are obviously hurt and he’s confused why this kid, who he considers a friend, is being mean.  When this child is excluding other kids, Scorch doesn’t get it either because he just wants to play with everyone.

To a 30-something, it doesn’t sound like a big deal. But to a 4 year old, this is a huge deal.

I wrestled with whether to mention this to his teachers.  Scorch is in a big class of 26 kids and while his teachers are astoundingly amazing, they aren’t omnipotent. But I don’t want to be that mom– the one who gets up in arms every time her precious snowflake is upset, the one who doesn’t let her kid figure it out on his own.

I ultimately did speak with his teachers and they were great and have taken immediate steps to help both boys with this. I think, in this case, I made the right decision to speak up.  Now I’m wondering if it would be weird if I sent Scorch to school with a recording of Stuart Smalley repeating “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!” over and over. That’s totally normal, right?