Theme: Bullying and teaching a child how to respond to it

It was Monday morning again
And Sheila lay in her bed
When her mom had woken her up
“My tummy hurts”, she had said 

Her mom looked at her worried
Sheila’s tummy seemed to hurt a lot
She had missed school too many times
Was there a bug she’d caught?

She then took her temperature
The thermometer said 98.6
She seemed fine her mom thought 
She did not even look sick

She then sat by Sheila’s side
And said, “let’s both take off today
Me from work and you from school 
It’ll be our special little holiday”

Sheila’s eyes sparkled bright
She smiled sweetly at her mom
Her heart felt light and happy
It was a treat to be home 

Mom and Sheila had breakfast
Then off to the park they went
Sheila went straight for the dragon slide
It had three crazy, loopy bends

Later sitting in the grass they saw
Something happen at the slides 
A boy in a jacket and a black cap
Was trying to pick a fight

The other boy was standing there
He looked kind of scared
Sheila looked away and then
Reached out for her Mom’s hand

A grownup had come up by then
To sort out the disturbance 
Sheila’s mom looked at her child
Things seemed to make some sense

She asked Sheila how she felt 
When she saw the big boy be mean
Sheila looked at her mom’s kind face
“I was scared, it could have been me”

She then told her about a girl
Who had just joined their school
She would pick on Sheila
At lunch every afternoon

“My darling, there are bullies sometimes
Just as there are nice people too
The next time this girl or anyone
Tries to be mean to you

You will tell them firmly, 
I don’t like this, stop this now
Or Back off, leave me alone
Stand confident and tall

Look at the girl and focus 
On the colour of her eyes
When you look bullies in the face
They always seem to shrink a size

You’ll see that she doesn’t look
Quite so fierce and so mean
Bullies are not all that brave 
As they’d have you think and feel

If you dearest heart, feel like someone
Could hurt you physically
Then you must tell a teacher 
And always, always talk to me

Just know that there is no one
In school or outside of it
That can ever hurt you
As long as your speak of it

Sometimes it can be hard, I know
To talk of things that make you scared
But these scary things just disappear
When with loved ones they are shared 

You are never never alone with things
And people that make you sad
We will always talk of our days
The good times and the bad

And you my darling girl are good
And brave and steady and kind
Bullies and monsters have no chance
When there are people like you around 

My dearest, know that I’m with you
Now and even when you’re older
Our team of two like a magical cloak 
Will forever drape your brave shoulders.