Mama Bear

It is so hard as a mother to see your kids picked on and treated wrongly. It makes your blood boil and makes you want to spit fire. Just as an actual mama bear viciously protects her cubs, we automatically want to protect our children from everything. We are their best advocates and defenders. So when does it become innappropriate to intervene on their behalf?

Picture this. The other day I was in the pool relaxing with Natalie when I looked over at Nolan waiting in line to go off the diving board. He was enthusiastically talking to a teenage boy about something. And for those of us who know Nolan, when he is excited, everyone around him knows. He jumped up and down and excitedly brought his hands up to his face in a fist. After a minute of talking, the teenager proceeded to completely mock and imitate Nolan right to his face. My stomach immediately fell, my heart started racing, and I wanted to cry for him. I wanted to march on over there and give that boy a piece of my mind. "He has autism! That's why he's hopping around. Don't make fun of him!", I wanted to shout. But I paused. I watched and waited to see what would transpire. And nothing else did. So I later casually asked Nolan if someone was making fun of him over by the diving boards. And he was oblivious to the whole situation. He was so excited over what he was telling the teenager, that he didn't even notice him mocking him.

Now as I look back, I wish I would have pulled the boy aside, away from Nolan and explained the situation calmly to him. I wish I would have opened his little teenage mind to educate him a little about autism. But at that moment, I was seeing red so there would have been nothing calm about my response. This parenting gig is so hard sometimes! I just want to put my kids in a bubble and protect them from everything and everyone bad in this world. But it doesn't work like that. I just pray that they learn from experiences like these. That they learn to treat others kindly and fairly. And I pray for the wisdom and insight to handle situations like God wants me to. I sure know I can't do it on my own!