If You're Too School for Cool

I LOVE Pink, and I LOVE her new song "Raise Your Glass."  At first listen I just heard another 'party' song.  But if you really listen to it or if you watch the video (which is admittedly a little strange) you realize that it's more than that.  While listening to it recently one of the boys questioned the line. "if you're too school for cool."  And the other explained that it meant if you're too smart too be cool, you don't fit in.  Now every time I hear this song it bring tears to my eyes.



This song is really about all the ways we can feel like we don't fit in.  And I've been there, I know the pain and loneliness that feeling like you don't belong brings.  And sadly, too many of those feelings are being stirred up again as my children confide in me about the things that go on at school.  Timmy especially has had his share of issues.  I've written previously about his experience with a so called friend last year that became a daily physical problem that we didn't know about for awhile.  But again this year, despite having a great friend and really being well like by all the kids that know him, he's having issues with being disrespected.  Last week he informed me that kids were calling him names because of his new haircut, which is adorable by the way.  And that an older kid called him a horrible string of profane names because the older boy had wandered away from the line at lunch and Timmy didn't realize he was inline so he "cut" in front of him.  It makes me sad that my not only very smart, but pretty athletic and otherwise well liked child is being disrespected.  Mostly this comes from being in the area where we live.  First of all we are in a lower class area where far to many parents aren't teaching their kids how to be decent people.  But, also, we are the minority here and as long as we stay here there will be an element of the boys not fitting in.  They will clearly have to fight (hopefully not literally) for their place in the pecking order and will have to really believe in themselves. 
As for me, I will continue to remind them that they are pretty freaking awesome and that this world would be incredibly boring if we were all exactly alike.  So they just have to be happy with who they are and not listen to what the haters might have to say.