Look them in the eye and don’t blink. Ever.

Grandboy experienced his first taste of being bullied yesterday on the bus.

Mamasan’s first reactions as she wiped his tears when he got off the vehicle were 1) climb onto the bus and rattle the bully’s cage (literally) and 2) drive the grandboy to school and back until she lands her full-time day job.

Well, #1 didn’t happen only because the bus driver sagely took off before Angry Mama Tigress launched herself into the fray.

I don’t think #2 will happen because I gave her some experience (not advice) of my own. The boy needs to learn how to deal with bullies straight away. He may not want to face the older boy but he needs to do so, on his own two feet, eventually.

He’s ok altering his own behaviour – maybe sitting elsewhere and choosing a group of kids who are less troublesome – but he ultimately needs to learn not to blink or back down if he’s done nothing wrong.

Mostly he needs to learn, early on, that invoking the wrath of mamasan is a carefully-calculated event, almost a nuclear option actually.  I’ve seen her in action, first-hand, and I almost feel sorry for anyone who pulls that lever. The key word here being “almost”…