Bullying sucks.

Especially when your child is the target. And when your sometimes introverted child comes home with battle scars on his chest from daycare and opens up to you, you listen. That was my Monday with Jacob. He was pinched--quite noticeably-- three times with plastic tongs by a classmate in school. I initially brushed it off as kids being kids. But it wasn't until our ride home that I began asking questions and the information spewed out. Alex, who attacked my child, has apparently been bullying Jacob for some time now. And it must be going under the radar because this is the first time I have ever heard of it. According to Jacob, this kid pushes him, kicks him, calls him "a little baby," and tries to make him cry. Jacob even told me that he doesn't want to go back to school because he doesn't have any friends and everyone is mean to him. Though I am sure (hoping) that is an exaggeration of the truth it breaks my heart. Jacob wouldn't tell his teacher who hurt him on Monday (why she didn't see it happen is my biggest question), and he doesn't want me to talk to his teacher about Alex. I respect my son's wishes, but I have an obligation to make sure my child is safe. I have spoken to the center director, and I discreetly spoke with his teacher. Fingers crossed that these conversations might open the eyes of those in charge so they can intercept situations before my child is hurt again (both physically and emotionally), and I really hope we can all be sneaky enough to do this without Jacob finding out as I don't want to breech his trust of me. I sure wasn't prepared to deal with this before formal schooling began, and I am now happily counting down the days to June when the boys will be taking the summer off of school.