Thank you, Little Bill

That Little Bill knows his stuff. Have you seen that show for kids from Bill Cosby? Jacob has always enjoyed it, and I have always dreaded it. The show is kind of slow moving, and  when I watch with the kids, I would rather them be watching something else.

But, this past Friday, Jacob saw Little Bill come through while I was flipping around and insisted we watch. The episode was about a new boy in school who always wanted to play some game where you call each other mean names, and whoever is the meanest wins. Nice kid, right? Well, Little Bill didn't know anything mean to say, so he asked his parents for some mean things to say at recess the next day.

Little Bill's Dad told him that since the things the other kid were saying weren't true, and didn't hurt Little Bill's feelings, all he had to do was say, "So?" every time the kid said something mean to him. So, that's what Little Bill did. And he learned how to win the game without stooping down to the other kid's level.

Fast forward to Jacob's soccer game Saturday morning. Jacob was on fire - he scored six goals and was just doing unbelievable! We were so proud. But, we heard some kid on the opposing team telling Jacob he was a baby, and just being a mean kid. So, Jacob told that kid he was a baby. When Jacob came to get a drink of water, he told me the kid called him a name and he said it back to him. I told him that's fine.

Then, I thought about it. And realized, I could let Jacob get the last word in with this kid, or I could actually teach him to rise above it and learn how to let things slide and still stand up for himself.

I stooped down to Jacob's eye level, and reminded him of Little Bill.

Jacob went back on the field. The little boy called him a baby. Jacob said, "So?"

The boy left him alone for the rest of the game.

And the smile on Jacob's face when he told me what happened and how he didn't have to call the boy names was priceless. Not saying this is going to happen every time, but I sure was proud of him for learning a new way to deal with name calling.

Thanks, Little Bill, for teaching me how to teach my kid a valuable lesson.