Operation Dylan Storm

A couple of weeks ago, Dylan got off the bus crying. He said that there was a boy on it who stole his best friend. (How does this happen? I'd like to steal a couple of people. I'll have to look into this further) Anyway, Dylan was obviously upset. I told him to ignore this kid since all he wants is the attention.

Dylan said that it was starting to work. He would sit behind the driver, read his National Geographic Kids Magazine, and ignore the kid. A week later, my friend (who has 2 kids on the same bus) called me to ask if Dylan was alright. She said her daughter told her that Dylan had been crying on the bus that day. Dylan adamantly denied it, and we left the issue alone. He said that "everything is just fine."

Last week, my friend called me again to let me know that Dylan had been upset on the bus again. Her daughter thought that there were punches thrown.

After talking to Dylan for a while, and assuring him that he was not in trouble, he admitted to me that this kid had been calling him names (Baby Dylan, Stupid Dylan, Frickin Dylan [?]), and just recently began to pull at Dylan's pant leg and on his "new blinking Transformer shoes." As my blood began to boil, he added that this kid had also started to flick him in the face and eyes.

I asked him why he never hit the kid back, and he said, "Because you told me to ignore him." (I know, the ONE time I wish he didn't listen to me.)

I asked him why he never told me any of these things, and he told me because he just liked to come home to a nice, quiet house and be happy.

All night I wondered how hard I would have to jump to drop-kick a six-year-old bully. In the morning, I came to my senses and called the school. The kid was brought into the principal's office.

For three days, Dylan had a blissful, quiet ride home from school.

Yesterday Dylan told me that the kid was starting up again. I got right on the phone to the school, and the principal and I decided that a 10 day suspension from the school bus should wake the little shit up.

I'm all for peace. I wish every situation in the world could be solved with talking. Sadly, a school bus is one of the first places we learn that it doesn't always work that way. Dylan needs to defend himself and keep his pride. I told Dylan to lay him out next time he hits him.