They grow up so FAST, don't they?

Petunia, Rose's daughter, is 7. But she hasn't been acting much like a seven-year-old lately.

She's a pretty bright kid. She's near the top of her class of brighter-than-average kids. Before last fall, when she learned to read, she said, "When I learn to read, I'll be free!" which prided up her mother fiercely. Reading and learning are a number one priority for Rose, so no effort has been spared to give her access to all of this. Every week, Petunia's reading improved until a couple of months ago.

She started acting very blasé and bored about just about everything except computer games. Nothing interested her. Word games became uninteresting. Reading? Forget that. Her reading skills seemed to be declining rather than improving. She had a bigger and bigger attitude in general. She was 14, and now we have figured out why.

Petunia had a best friend, a girl from England called Jackie. They used to do everything together. They are both in Grade 1, but somehow, perhaps through an older sibling, Jackie ended up hanging out with some Grade 6 girls about 12 years old. Jackie then brought Petunia into the group, however, she had to do certain things in order to be accepted. These things included showing attitude, requesting more adult clothing, doing silly things at her expense and for their amusement and worst of all, playing dumb. I barely understand that last one when they're 12 years old. I cannot figure it out for a 7-year-old other than as a way to gain acceptance to some elite group.

Luckily, her father figured things out, explainmed to Petunia that she was being used and made fun of and that perhaps a better friend could be found. Many other girls would have been lost without their best. They often cling to these destructive relationships because anything is better than being alone. And of course, these things often enough continue into adulthood. Thankfully, Petunia recovered quickly and found another girl that she gets along with so well that they call each other "cousin".

Isn't it crazy that this should even happen, though? What the hell is wrong with these older girls? And Jackie? Seriously, this could have been a lot worse than it was; it seems that 75% of women and girls have screwed-up identity and self-esteem issues. This is one reason why.