LUCKY PUNCH

It was a wonderful summer day in Medford, Oregon and my friend Monique and her kids were at our house visiting.  Our kids were about the same age and loved playing together and we moms loved to gab so it was the perfect set up.

We were sitting in the garage watching the kids ride bikes, chase each other and do all kinds of energy burning activities.  I was real good at keeping my kids moving during the day so that they would go to bed early in the evening and Scott and I could have some adult time together.

Matthew was a year older than Kelsey and he was known to tease and torment her, in a fun and humorous sort of way.  He kept telling Kelsey how "strong and muscular" he was and Kelsey would just smile.

He started encouraging Kelsey to hit him.  "Punch me Kelsey, do it," he kept telling her.  "You can't hurt me" and "girls can't hurt boys" and "I can take it" were some phrases that kept escaping his lips.  I wondered how long it would be before Kelsey had her fill of his taunting.

Kelsey finally said "Matthew, I do not want to hit you".  She was very calm and cool.  Matthew laughed at her and kept up with his jibes.

I watched Kelsey take a deep breath and land one punch square on his nose.  He grabbed his nose and cried, just like a little girl.  Kelsey had beamed him good and gave him a bloody nose.

I felt bad and proud at the same time and told Monique I was so sorry.  "No problem, Matthew invited the punch and got exactly what he wanted" was all she could say.

No one ever crossed Kelsey again.  Man, does she have a mean right jab.