On Being Popular

My bug has been having problems with her social life lately.

She's learning that there are popular kids at the school, and she's pretty sure she's not one of them.

She has a love-hate relationship with one of the girls at school. One day they're best friends, the next day they're not talking and Bug is a social outcast.

She wants to change her image. "Mom, everyone sees me as a girly girl, and I don't want to be seen like that," Bug said. "I want to be seen as the cool sporty girl, like Gogo Tomago."

if you don't know this girl, you've never seen Big Hero 6

I told her that if she wanted to be seen as a sporty girl, she should probably try playing a sport. I'm pretty sure Gogo didn't spend her lunch recess in the school office reading every day.

She told me that her new crush is Brody. "He's a CCP," she said.

CCP stands for Cool, Cute, and Popular.

"What about David and Tony?" I asked, referring to her to two best friends (and crushes) since kindergarten.

Bug sighed and looked at me like I was brain damaged. Clearly, neither David nor Tony are CCP.

"Mom, how do you get to be popular?"

(Don't ask me, I was never popular.)

"Baby, the key to being popular is simple: be nice to everyone, and take pride in your hygiene. The mean kid is never popular, and the smelly kid is never popular."

The Agent chose this moment to cut in. "Don't worry about being popular. Do you know what the popular kid in my class is doing now? Wishing he was still popular. The popular kids in your class now are going to be working for you in 20 years."

(Shut up, Agent. You're not helping.)

I wish she could look twenty years into the future so she knows it's all going to be okay.