The Pain of Exclusion and Being Left Out Once Again

It was the first football game of the season. They finish their halftime dance on the field and I see them all disperse. There go her 5 friends and she is left standing alone. They all take pictures and she isn’t invited, once again. It’s the same tired story. I have come to the conclusion that my daughter is left out once again because she is nice. I really can’t think of any other explanation. Maybe I am naive but if tons of parents and other people didn’t tell me this all the time, I might think differently and wonder what was up with her attitude. Just after the incident, it happened again. I saw a mom that I hadn’t seen in a while. She is also a mom that I adore. We both tell each other how nice it is to see one another and the conversation flows. She compliments my daughter on how sweet she is and that her daughter says the same thing. “Jada always tells me how nice your daughter is!”, she says. If she is so nice, why is she always left out? Do other teens really like to be around bitches? That is how it seems in high school and then there are the parents that play along in the popularity escapades. They are nothing like the mom that I adore. It’s all a popularity contest where the kids are vying for the top spot and the parent is egging their child on by planning parties and events to support their rise to the top of the high school food chain. <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-empathy/the-pain-of-exclusion-and-being-left-out-once-again-988edf8897dc">Website</a>