Day 51

Little Monster was sobbing when I picked him up from school today.  When we got in the car he told me that he needed a new backpack and that he didn’t want to go back to school.  We just bought him a new backpack yesterday.  I realized that when I saw him with his teacher he had his backpack facing himself so no one could see the picture.

At the beginning of the year he picked out a very plain blue backpack and a couple months ago I offered to buy him a new one (the one he chose is also very small).  He declined, but then last week he decided to take me up on my offer.  I was sick, so we didn’t pick up his new bag until yesterday.  I took him to the backpack section and told him to pick anything he wanted and he picked out a black bag with purple piping and a picture of Justin Bieber.  I asked him if he was sure he wanted that one and explained that I was afraid he would get picked on or made fun of because girls mostly like Justin Bieber.  I offered alternative bags just to make sure but he wanted the Bieber and he was so excited to take it to school and show his friends.

He told me that the kids laughed when they saw his backpack.  So, I took him to the store and helped him pick out a new bag.  A Spiderman bag with a matching lunch bag.  He wasn’t as excited about the new bag, he was sad.  He didn’t want to surrender the JB bag either, he wants to keep it for other things at home.  He asked me not to make him take it outside…it breaks my heart because he was so excited about the JB backpack.

Mr. B and I decided early on that we will allow our son to choose what he likes, even if we wouldn’t chose the same thing, and that we would be supportive.  So he told me he wanted it to be a secret that he likes JB and I told him that was fine.  I did tell him that I told people when he was excited about JB before today.  He said that was okay.  So if you ever meet Little Monster and he hasn’t talked to you about JB, don’t bring it up. 

I also explained that a lot of my friends don’t know that I like the band Rammstein.  I really enjoy rocking out to Rammstein, but I don’t think my friends would ever picture me as liking that band because they are very weird.  Little Monster thought that was funny.

Just before bed we watched some JB music videos.  He said he really likes how JB dances…and I was surprised to see Usher in one of his videos.  As I was putting him to bed I asked him what he liked about JB and he said he likes his music, that he dances good, and that it reminds him of his friend in Georgia, because that’s where he first heard the song “Baby”.

Should I talk to his teacher and explain what happened?  And how do I explain to Little Monster about why people make fun of others.  That was something he asked me, “why do people laugh at others?”  The only thing I could think was that in his situation they probably laughed because boys don’t usually like Justin Bieber.  I explained that kids have trouble understanding when they hurt each others’ feelings and that it’s good to tell your friends when they hurt you because they may not know otherwise.  I told him we can’t run away just because we had a bad day.  He went to bed happy, but very sleepy and said he’d be ready to go to school tomorrow.
Mr. B called tonight.  I hadn’t told him about the backpack, I still haven’t.  I did tell him Little Monster got laughed at for liking JB, but that was it.  It’s hard not being able to talk to him about what’s going on.