"I Don’t Want to Speak….”

I mentioned previously that there is a rather bossy and overbearing young lady in Ricki’s class at school. (After that previous incident, Ricki and I had a long talk about who she needs to listen to, and who not...) I have even heard, with great satisfaction, Ricki telling her over the phone, “You’re not my mother.”
Recently, another mother from the class mentioned to me that her daughter also has problems with this older girl, and that she suspects that the classmate might sometimes get pushy physically.
So I investigated, quizing Ricki: “Does S____ever touch you?”
“No.”
“Does she ever push your classmates?”
“I don’t want to speak slander….”

There is a lot of emphasis in our school system about not speaking slander, this being a prohibition in the Bible.("Don't be a tale bearer....") I wish there was MORE of an emphasis about personal space!

“I’M The Boss Here”

Whenever Ricki acts sassy, my husband will rhetorically ask, “Who is the boss here, you or me?!??”. So it was no big surprise to me when Ricki suddenly announced yesterday evening at the dinner table, in a moment of self-assertion, “I’m the ‘boss’ here!”
I laughed, and commented, “Ricki as long as your father and I are controlling the money, I think we are the ‘boss’.”
But she didn’t understand (or didn’t care to), and just reiterated: “I’m the boss!”
“Well, Ricki,” I replied, “you ARE the boss-of your body. No one is allowed to touch you without your permission.”
I mean, she DOES need to know that she IS the boss there! Let her feed that self-assertion where it will be useful!