Hearing that your child is getting harassed and teased at school is a nightmare for aNY mother, but for one Connecticut mom, hearing her son was being bullied was unbearable. Mary Ann Parisi adopted her son Michael as a baby who had been born severely premature, and has since faced countless hardships.
“My son is a love muffin. No anger. He doesn’t want anyone to get in trouble, he’s willing to take it,” Mary Ann told ABC News. “It’s a hard line to walk because your initial reaction is to lash out because you want to protect your son, but that’s not the way to go about it.”
Instead, she decided to write a Facebook post explaining some of the issues Michael has faced to remind people to teach their children be kind to one another since you never know what’s really going on with someone.
In her inspiring post, Mary Ann wrote:
“Michael was born at 26 weeks. Just over 3 months premature. I am not his bio mom. But in every other way, I am his mother. He spent the first 3 months of his life fighting to survive. Shunts, blood transfusions, etc. His mother left him 3 months later. He has survived failure to thrive and numerous other health issues to become the strong, healthy boy he is.”
“He didn’t learn to talk till he was 3 years old. Walking was very delayed. He didn’t have teeth till after his first birthday. He was so very behind. But he loved. Oh how he loved. To this day, his smile is the best thing ever. There is not one person he doesn’t like/love, including those who tormented him today.”
“He forgives and honestly, he forgets too. There is not one judgemental bone in his body. I strive to be more like him daily but fall very short. You called him brace face today, before you were picking on him because of his eating habits. Did you know he physically can not control the food staying in his mouth. Or how very bad his hand/eye coordination is. Those braces are just one of the many steps he will endure, to help align his lower jaw that never fully developed. So he doesn’t spill his food or chew weirdly anymore. So you won’t pick on him.”
“Kicking his chair, calling him stupid, ugly, brace face, bucky beaver. Telling him to sit down and shut up is not the way. You don’t have to like him, but you do have to respect him. He’s a fighter, that’s a very small portion of his story. Share, teach, grow. Most importantly respect those around, you never know what they have been through.”
Can you believe what this mother had to do to quiet her son’s bullies? Let us know what you think of her post in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image credit: Facebook/MaryAnn Parisi]