Let Nothing Dim Her Light

I forgot to post this pun from Evie last week:

(Amazon package arrives for Seth. It is completely empty.)

Me: What did you order?

Seth: Socks.

Evie: Maybe they were no-show socks. 

This week, Evie had zoo camp, which she thoroughly enjoyed except for some boys who were enthralled with trying to jump scare her and generally tease her.  On the last day of camp, one of them was dared to touch her inappropriately, which he did, and he was subsequently expelled from camp, and the other boys' parents called.  When I talked to her about it on the way home, I asked her how she felt and she said, "I feel disrespected," which I thought was an amazing word to choose to express herself.  We talked about how most girls or women end up with something like that happening to them, which doesn't make it okay, but does mean that it wasn't about HER specifically, it could have been any girl - she just happened to be the one they chose.  It's really frustrated that a girl can't even make it to 10 years old before some boy comes along and makes her feel uncomfortable...  We talked about that too, about how her body is amazing and does all kinds of wonderful things like running and dancing and lifting herself, and how we should try not to let one dumb boy make us feel like our bodies aren't good anymore....  She hasn't mentioned it again so I think she was able to get past it.    Oh, and I was very proud of her because when the camp director called me to tell me it had happened, she said that the first thing Evie had told her was, "You have to call my mom to tell her."  I'm so glad she made sure her parents were going to be told.

What was especially upsetting to her was that it happened at the Sting Ray Bay exhibit, which she loves and was looking forward to all week.  I told the camp director I would appreciate it if we could re-do that experience (which costs money) so the director walked us back in and we had the whole exhibit to ourselves for a good part of te time, so she pet the sting rays for about 20 uninterrupted minutes.

A fun thing we did with zoo camp was experiment with putting her hair up in different styles every day.  So then on Friday we had had her hair in various braided styles all week so it was delightfully crimped.

I really wish I could put this beautiful child in a bubble and never let other people near her.... I know this is an experience that was inevitable, and I know it will happen to her again, because that is the reality of being a woman.  But, as my dear friend Annalisa said, I hope that nothing will ever happen to dim her light.