Bully 2.0

I've had this post brewing in my head for a while.

I just don't know how to get the words out properly. I don't want to speak negatively about anyone and I certainly don't want to be anything other than the best Mom I can be to M.

But I'm upset about something and I want to get it off my chest.

We are blessed to live in a neighborhood with a bunch of kids M's age. They range in age from 22 months to 4 years and there are 8 kids in that age range. Awesome, right?

Well, sort of.

There are 4 girls and 4 boys. M takes the total amount of kids to 9.

There is one set of siblings, a boy and a girl, that, umm, bother me.

Whew. That was a weight lifted off my shoulder.

The boy is 4 days older than M. The girl is a year and a half older. So, she's 3.5. And to be honest? Neither kid behaves properly.

The older sister picks on her brother constantly. And when I say constantly, I mean, every.single.time. we're outside? She does something to him. A few days ago, she was using M's chalk to draw all over his face. Even when he was crying because of it? She did it anyway.

Yesterday, she decided it would be fun to push him down a steep hill. And when he caught his balance, she jumped on him and rolled him down the hill.

I don't recall my older brother and sister doing these things to me, but hey, maybe they did and I don't remember. Doubtful.

But, both brother and sister? They gang up on M.

Earlier this week, the boy decided he wanted to hit M IN THE FACE with a stick. When I said, "umm, John, we don't hit people, and certainly not with sticks. Please don't hit M in the face, or at all. Thanks!" his mom THEN turned around to see what happened.

Two days ago, John decided to pull M's arm. She said, "Stop, John!" and ran away.

Want to know what happened next? Bully John decided to chase after my child, who was running from him, and yanked her hair so hard that her head flew back. Once he did that and M had to stop in place, he pushed M down to the ground, hard enough that she started crying.

Just so you know, my child rarely cries. And we actually pride ourselves on the fact that she can fall and scrape her knee, but she get's up, says, "I'm okay!!" brushes off her knee and keeps going. Seriously. My kid is awesome.

When I saw John start to chase M, I knew he was up to no good. So, I actually started running towards my daughter. I didn't get to her in time though.

M had tears and said, "John. He pulled my hair." I went to the bully's mom and told her what her son just did. She then ASKED her son if it was true. He admitted what he did and then had to sit in time out. And apparently, time out is just having to sit near his mom while he plays with chalk (ours) or with bubbles (again, ours.)

Also two days ago? The older sister decided to ram her scooter straight into M as her back was to the scooter. So, M fell forward, grabbed her ankle, and limped to me.

The mom said, "Oh my. Did you do that on purpose? Why would you do that? You have a time out now," to the perpetrator, her daughter. And, you guessed it. Time out was just "hanging out" outside near her mom.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

And then there's yesterday. M was standing on a paver that was in the shape of a circle, all by herself. Minding her own business. Well, John decided it was a good idea to come over and push M away. When she stumbled backwards, he came again at her, pushing her harder and making sure she fell down. Again, his Mom said, "John, that's not nice. You have time out." He stood next to her for a whole 20 seconds before he was off playing again. And yes, I actually counted how "long" his timeout was.

I have been, and still am, furious. My child gets physically attacked by your bully children and that's all you do? You have them "sit" near you? Really?

This morning, I took M outside to walk around and play with her bike/chalk/bubbles. I saw the two bully kids outside, as did M, and she remarked, "Oh! My friends! Hi friends!" and started walking over to them.

And for once, I told M that no, we wouldn't be playing with them today. We were going to play by ourselves.

I was sad to say that to her. I don't want M to have to be separated from neighborhood kids because they don't act properly and because they don't learn to act civilized.

But, what am I to do?

The kids ended up coming over to us this morning anyway, but I stayed right next to M the entire time. Of course, the older sister decided to take things (repeatedly) out of M's hands. (And only M, by the way. She doesn't do that to any other kid in the neighborhood.)

I'm seriously baffled as to why these kids are such bully's to my kid. She is so sweet and kind to them. She just wants to be friends. So why are these kids like this? What am I supposed to do, as M's Mommy, to prevent these situations from happening again?

Another neighborhood mom told me last week that John used a stick to hit her newly adopted dog repeatedly. When she told John to stop, he didn't listen. John's mom wasn't paying attention to the situation, which seems to be a common theme. The next day, John was pulling the dogs tail, making the dog yelp.

I don't want to create neighborhood drama. But I'm sure as hell not going to have my kid injured or treated poorly because some kids are allowed to act like animals.

Trying to find a peaceful resolution right now seems rather difficult. And is perhaps futile.

Help?