Democracy or not?!

Today another kid hit my son for the first time. My son is 8 months old, and being premature & the 1st kid and all, me & my husband are very cautious of him. But today, it was a really funny scene & rewinding it in my head, it made me really proud of my son. All my life, i was a shy girl. I was bullied both verbally and physically until the age of 12. Thats bcz my parents never put me out there. They never encouraged me to defend myself. They always told me to tattle-tale when someone hurts me. I wanna be different. Bcz i know one thing. Kids dont know democracy. Adults dont know democracy. But in kids world, its a jungle & its not run by logic & reason. To gain peace, u must make war. If someone hits u, u must hit back. If someone insults u, u must hit back harder...put a sock in their mouth. Then when u hit puberty, u can try a bit of democracy...see if someone listens. So the story goes like this: My frnd visited me today and brought along her 18 month old son. At first he was shy, and enjoying looking at my son. 15 minutes later, he slaps my son on the forehead and tries to push him off his chair. Of course, my frnd was like "no! Let go of him! U cant have his toy chair...etc". But i was more interested in my sons response. I honestly expected him to cry. But guess what he did? He looked at the kid in shock, like "what the hell?!" And then reached out to the other kids hand and started hitting it until the other kid let go of the chair. My frnds son did try to attack again 10 minutes later but this time his mom pulled him away. But what happened, my son defending himself. I was so proud. I see kids being bullied in school corners and , although im an adult, im too scared to say anything. But my son. I dont have to be worried of him being bullied at school i guess.

Memories

I had this classmate, 16 years ago, Niha. She was indian. We played soccer together. We made a volcano together. This memory is so dear to me. I wanna know where she is in life now. I wanna know if she remembers more of our friendship. I wanna reconnect with my childhood friends. Memories of the states are so sweet and dear to me. I wanna know more of my childhood.

Feeling appreciated

Today a professor complimented me on my strength. I presented my thesis defense. I was so nervous. When i finished, there were some comments...there were some questions...but before they graded my masters thesis, the head professor said to the jury:

Before we just grade u like ur a machine, i want to take this from a humane perspective. Iv been with sajida step by step since she started her masters while she was pregnancy. She studied masters in french while she is an american. She had problems during pregnancy. She had to deliver early in the middle of the exams. She had problems with her son when she first delivered. But still she came & retook all the exams she missed at delivery. She showed up everyday to the lab and worked hard but had to leave early to breastfeed her son. Despite all the obtsacles she faced, sajida gave her heart & soul to this masters. She didnt give up. She didnt back down.

Then he said to me:

I just want to tell u that im proud of u. U r a living example that when someone puts a goal & is determined to get there, they get there. Im proud of ur work. U r so brave & hardworking.

I almost cried...it's nice when people notice what u went through & acknoledge ur power...it gives me strength