Hannah Montana...WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?!?

So...rarely do I ever "push" my kids to make friends, friends just happen, but I had noticed a little girl riding her bike and watching our campsite, there was also a swing set just a few steps away and she'd been hanging out there as well. Her daddy and I told her to go introduce herself and try to make a friend. On this particular day my thoughts were making friends and then running into them at another campground "might" be fun, especially as the kids age and peers become more important. At first things were going okay...the conversation was pretty much normal, but I could already tell that she "might not" be the kind of friend we'd typically hang with...but whatever. At one point Kaitlyn wanted to go see Andrew who happened to be checking out the fish at the bottom of the bluff. Kaitlyn's "new" friend went with her and at this point I could no longer hear the conversation. Vic and I meandered over to make eye contact with Andrew and see Kaitlyn when she reappeared rather misty eyed. After much prodding I was told that she had asked the little girl if she watched Hannah Montana,( I can only guess Kait asked because of the shirt the little girl was wearing) the conversation turned south when the little girl found out that Kaitlyn did not. She stared at her in disbelief and stated rudely "You're not my type and I can't be friends with you"...hopped on her bike and with a flick of her wrist and twitch of her neck (per Andrew...kinda like the "talk to the hand" type of motion) rode off leaving my baby girl dazed and confused as to what had just happened. WE do not typically judge people by what t.v. shows they don't watch and lord knows I've been judged enough by what we do! Honestly, I was rather ticked and stunned myself. So my question is Hannah Montana...WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?!? I guess I need to sit down and watch the stupid show again and see if I can find what the rage is...from what I saw the last time I watched it, it wasn't all that great...but then again, I'm of a different generation and clearly am showing my age with this newest generation of t.v. viewers!

I wish I could end the story here, but it gets worse...

The next day that little girl hooked up with more friends...from what I gathered, they must attend the same school. They were on the swing set and I heard..."I just met her yesterday and she was so mean to me"..."she's bossy"..."she's ugly, she's stupid and she's sooo mean"...this was said at least a couple of times, there was more to the conversation, but by the time I realized it was that mean little girl and it was Kaitlyn she was talking about I had ignored the previous hot air emitting from her mouth. My sweet girl heard every stinking word and was again crushed. A few minutes later my poor critter was standing near the road...still at a lost as to why this little girl was acting this way when she was approached by the mean little thing and asked "Why are you so mean?". For the second time in two days my poor girl was moved to tears by the horrible mean spirit of this 2nd grader!...at 9 years old it is impossible to understand why this little girl was being so hateful...I was completely dumbfounded as well...and feeling more than annoyed and angry.

Lot's of conversation was had and many ideas and thoughts filled my mind trying to help Kait understand why this little girl could be so mean. One thought is perhaps she too has experienced this type of meanness and it's all she knows. Another thought was "Is this what our schools are doing to our children?"..."Is the peer pressure to "FIT IN" causing them to act this way?"...surely this cannot be a healthy environment if children are not learning that you just don't treat people this way and parents aren't willing to step up and be involved in the mannerism of their child. Can you believe that after the Hannah Montana incident I actually expected the mom/grandparent of this little girl to drag her butt up the hill and offer my girl an apology? Needless to say, it did not happen...but I began to think that that little girl probably told mom/grandma that my girl was the horrible one, and sadly they probably never questioned it. I know if Kaitlyn ever comes home and is upset, angry or otherwise I ALWAYS question her as to what happened...what was her part/words/actions in the issue...what did the other person say, etc...and we go forward from there...always!

Unfortunately this story does not have a happy ending...momma bear allowed this to fester and the pot began to boil...for two days I tried to console and offer the best words of advice for my broken spirited little bear cub...not an easy task with an over sensitive little soul such as my Kait. I saw the hurt in her eyes and I hated it, I wanted to fix it, make it all go away...I did pray for words of wisdom and peace but knew I wouldn't listen...I'd handle it my way.

The next morning as we were departing and heading down the hill, I saw that horrible, very ugly, mean spirited little girl sitting on the slide watching us leave...I also saw her give my Kait the "talk to the hand wrist flick and neck twitch"...AGAIN! My window was down and I had already been plotting my verbal attack, only I knew I didn't want to be a horrible role model to Kait and say something really ugly, so I simply yelled (see if you can visualize me leaning out of the truck window yelling at the top of my lungs!) "EVEN IF WE WATCHED HANNAH MONTANA WE WOULDN'T BE FRIENDS WITH YOU!"...and yes, I flicked my wrist and twitched my neck just like the "talk to the hand type motion" and yelled one final "SEE YA" as we passed by...

...was it my shining moment?...lol, I think not.

The upside to the story is my Kait did make a friend at the beach, her name was Chasity and she was very nice to her and they got along beautifully...not sure if Hannah Montana came up in conversation or not but I'm sure Kaitlyn will forever remember to tread lightly when conversing about that girl...that girl who calls herself Hannah Montana...what is her deal?