I really like talking to msbelle too. Now I feel pouty.

Larb?

you can come visit! You know, when you have all that time and stuff.

Shrimp rolls with bacon.

I would like to hear more about these, please.

Larb?

Is this a "what is it" question? If so, it's a Thai meat salad. Nom.

Yeah, Dana. Thank you! I couldn't tell if it was a typo for lamb or just something I'd never heard of.

Larb: [link]

Now I want larb, yet I have none.

Hivemind help, please.

A few of the kids from the dojo go to school with CJ. There is one boy - J - who is of similar age and size. He is a couple of ranks ahead of CJ in karate, but over the last couple of years it is CJ who has kept him from getting into fights at school.

I've know they are competitive along with being buddies, but things have taken a turn for the worse recently. J has been "jokingly" bumping into CJ, hard. Has thrown erasers at him along with pencils. CJ showed me a bloody mark on his shoulder that was the result of a pencil attack. He has shown me other marks on his body, supposedly caused by J.

I have tried to encourage CJ to talk with J directly. Or J's dad (who also takes karate). Or the teachers since this is happening at school. CJ's response is that "it won't change anything". Which, to me, is the classic response of someone who is being bullied.

Do I step in? Do I push him to confront the issue? With who? I'd rather talk with J's dad (we are buds). If CJ is the one to speak up, I'd rather see him talk with the teachers and invoke the anti-bullying rules.

In most cases, I really try to get him to fight his own battles, but he has physical marks on him and that is NOT COOL.

I am having social life panic. As in, I have one. And I have nails to do, leaves to rake, cookie recipes to come up with, trips to take, miles to swim, sanding to figure out, tools and presents to buy AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIT IT ALL IN. I haven't done shit on the banister in weeks and it is making me nuts, but I need to do some research but first I have to do my annual insurance shit and and and. I kinda wish TG and Xmas weren't a mere month apart. It makes this time of year far too busy normally, and god knows I've ramped up my projects list a lot since a couple year ago, even a year ago.

And really, this is a happy complaint, one I am glad to have but I'm tired in advance.

Suzi, first I'd try to talk to CJ some more -- maybe lay out what could happen if he doesn't talk to the teachers or J directly, i.e. other kids getting bullied who don't have CJ's self-defense skills, etc. Maybe if you can appeal to his sense of justice and protectiveness, it would help?

Also, I'm sure at his age he doesn't want you to fight battles for him, but I agree that physical marks are not cool. So I would be up front and tell him he has to make a decision -- either tackle the matter on his own, or you will. But, um, making it sound less ultimatum-ish. (You could also explain that in this case, you're concerned with protecting him, and hope he'll understand that.)