“How was your day?” I asked 8-year-old K as we walked home.

Okay,” she answered automatically and then retracted, “Well, sort of not okay.”

“What happened?” I asked very casually.

“I had no one to sit with at lunch and then I couldn’t find anyone to play with at recess. Everyone ran away from me.”

Of course, this type of statement sends a Jewish mom running to find a therapist. (For my kid, if not for myself). But I am not the same person I was before I did ludicrous amounts of research for my book on bullying, and I instantly recalled a conversation I had with Dr. Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain and Mom, They’re Teasing Me, among others.

Read the full story at Psychology Today…