Oh no you didn't....

There are few things that make my face look like this, but it looks like this right now.  I have no need, use or want of bullies.  Especially girl bullies.  I have raised my girls to be respectful towards peers and adults alike.  Use your ma'ams and sirs.  Don't talk about people behind their backs.  All of these after school specials and psychology books talk about the surface stuff on dealing with bullies.  What most fail to address is the seductive nature of bullies.  Why is a person who is so obviously scary so attractive?  Let's drop the good kid and let the bad one tell us what to do...we cannot think for ourselves...we are robots to serve the bully and will not step out of her line.  As a mother of the "bullied", I find myself every afternoon with aching hands, realizing that I am gripping the steering wheel with superhuman strength just to brace myself for that afternoon's bully report.  Has she been active today?  Or is it a good day and she was either out sick or too tired to bother with my child?  Now, I realize mine needs to stand up for herself.  She needs to tell the girl to cut that crap out and call out her friends who turn into faceless people walking into the meat grinder.  Maybe she is a goody-goody.  Maybe the boys like her because she isn't weird and plays with them, rather than act all giddy and tell them they are gross.  Today I had to go upstairs and call my mother and cry, all under the pretense of changing my clothes.  After several crying spells and multiple reapplications of makeup, I am determined to have a good, LONG weekend.  Free of this girl and all the girls who my daughter so desperately wants to be friends with.  I want to tell her this builds character.  I want to tell her she is the better person for being a good friend.  I want to tell her all the wonderful things grown ups say about her.  Ultimately, none of that matters when she is in the throes of this.  All I can do is hold her, sweep her hair out of her eyes, express my undying love and admiration for how well she is handling things, wipe her tears and pray that it stops before it damages her forever....