The Girl had lessons in school this year about “touching”.
There was a guest speaker who talked to the kids about all sorts of safety issues.
Bike safety.
Car safety.
Personal safety.
The personal safety lessons were great.
They went over good touch and bad touch with the kids.
They worked on empowering the kids to say no.
They discussed telling an adult if something like that happened.
After each lesson a letter would be sent home explaining what they talked about in class.
Then as a parent I am supposed to talk to my child at home about the lesson, go over what they learned and see if there are any questions.
So the next day The Girl’s walking up the stairs and I playfully swat her behind to hurry her up.
She turns to me, shakes her head and says…
“Mom, now I have a touching problem.”
“What?”
“You touched my private part…my butt…now I have a touching problem.”
“But it was just playful. I didn’t mean to.”
She’s still eyeing me suspiciously.
I try to rationalize with her.
“Well, I am sorry. I should not have done that.”
“Um hum”
That’s when things start to go downhill…fast.
I try to dig myself out of this mess but instead I say -
“So now don’t go telling your school you have a touching problem. I mean, not that it’s a secret. Because it isn’t a secret. But don’t tell your school I told you to keep it a secret. Because there’s nothing to keep secret. But don’t go telling your school that you have a touching problem because you don’t. I just swatted you…”
She starts to laugh.
I give up!
