My UFO (unbelievably fabulous observations)

[BeingMe]

I was a bit like Puppy, with a little more dash of nerdness. I had no problem being alone though ... I would practice my netball throws, and sometimes my friends would just watch me, or read a book, or I would read a book on the field and would get annoyed when disturbed. I took jiu-jitsu, and apparently (I heard much later) a lot of people were a little nervous of me, especially since I never backed down from bullying, words or physical, and most didn't know how much pain I could inflict. Hahaha! A lot ... I grew up with a very competitive brother, and we used to wrestle, etc. I was a tomboy that liked pretty clothes too, and reading sci-fi when it wasn't popular, yadda yadda. But, we also changed schools a lot --- dad was on the railways. So one gets to know how to make do, and get on with people. Maybe that's Clare's issue ... not enough moving around, so she is too used to being in the same place and it hurts more when previous friends are hurtful, or teachers she's known a long time suddenly change. Not that you could ever know what is the best thing for a child's nature.

My youngest is best being in the same school whereas the twins didn't care one way or another. My eldest was an only child for 7 years, and I never really knew what was best for her. She was often bullied, but she was such a softy, that she couldn't harden herself to fight back (and I don't mean physically), but she didn't want to say mean things to the school kids. (I had no problem when I was younger.) No matter what I did, it seemed it wasn't good enough, but now in retrospect, nothing she experienced was that bad. She had friends, albeit sometimes in other schools. She never went without ... clothes on her back, food on the table, her own bedroom, pocket money, etc. It was harder after the twins arrived, but she always had what was needed, and especially my love, and her step-dad's love and support.

All you can do is your best and you're doing an awesome job. Once Clare grows up, she will look back and see that things weren't so bad, and that which was, perhaps made her stronger. I think she's going to be a really lovely lady one day.

Take care.