Bruises

My poor Fi is tired and worn out from being sick. She sleeps huge amounts when she is recovering. Yesterday, after a night of endless vomiting, she spent most of the day passed out in her room.

This morning we needed to get back to work (for numerous reasons that aren't really relevant to the point of my post), so she was going to be dragged out of bed whether she was ready or not.

However, at 6:55 just before I dragged myself out of bed, she arrived at the foot of the bed with a great big smile on her face and announced, "I feel great!"

A huge sigh of relief from me and I joined her in facing the day.

Unfortunately her feeling great didn't last too long. After school she melted into a teary puddle at the table. Between a hot cup of hot chocolate and some careful listening we discovered that she is feeling teased by her classmates.

Oh, I hate this stuff. As a teacher I hate the way kids can be so incredibly mean to each other, often without even realizing it. As a mother, well I go all crazy-mother-bear about it (and need to be reminded to chill a bit by my spouse).

In reality it probably isn't a huge problem. But my Sprout is a very sensitive soul and feels hurts deeply. When others tease her she feels it as an attack. She thinks that they all pick on her because she is the smallest.

So I think we have a few years ahead of dealing with bruised feelings and working on developing 'standing up for myself' skills. Any tips?