I'm an Irish mother to 2 boys, born & bred in Dublin, Ireland. I like to cook simple & fresh food for the family, with the family on a budget.

30 Comments

  • Karen Smith

    Well done for dealing with a delicate situation in a great way. Sounds like you have great relationship with your daughter X

  • Lisa | Mama.ie

    Sounds like you took the right approach. Horrible situation though but unfortunately probably not the last time she’ll be faced with something like this as she makes her way through her teenage years. At least she knows not that she can come to you for help.

  • Eugenie Wilson-Bower

    You really dealt with the whole situation in a perfect manner. Well done, and hope your 13 yr old is able to express to her “friend” how disappointed she is. Sounds like she has a great role model in you.

    • Wholesome Ireland

      Thank you Eugenie. She’s my husband’s daughter (although I would be proud to call her mine too) I’m sure she will in her own time. In fact I’m confident her “friend” will know exactly how much hurt and damage she has caused. Trust is so important.

  • Anna Boch

    Saving this in my long term memory – sounds like you handled it really well. My little girl is starting school this month, so it’s all ahead of us!

  • Girl with the skew earring

    Thanks so much to your Daughter for allowing us other parents inside her world, and to you Catriona for sharing how to deal with these kinds of things.

    I am sure that she now knows to change her password if she accidentally lets her password slip.

  • CatherineAnn Minnock

    I found this a really interesting read and I have every sympathy for your stepdaughter. I’ve been through bullying myself and I have to say that, while no form is any more/less serious than another, at least you were fortunate in one sense that you had evidence of what had happened. It can be really hard for teenagers to explain to adults what is happening and how bullying is affecting them, but in this case you saw for yourself. I think this article will have a great impact on the bullies themselves: it will let them know that their actions will be taken seriously and have consequences. I really admire the way you handled the situation, she’s so lucky to have you looking out for her!

    • Wholesome Ireland

      “No form is any more/less serious than another.” Thank you CatherineAnn for articulating it far better than I could. There is a general acceptance of this behaviour out there among many teens and adults. It’s not acceptable and she feels very betrayed.

  • kat

    Gosh the poor thing. It’s one thing to have it happen behind your back or in school when you know who the culprit is or can at least find out but the internet has made it all so secretive. Fair play for being able to keep track of your child’s internet activity I do think they need to have access to these social outlets but they do need to be actively monitored. Even as a fairly internet savvy woman I’m not sure I would have known to take the steps you did. Your stepdaughter can only learn from this and hopefully her ‘friend’ will too.

  • Grainne

    Having a 13 year old daughter myself I understand your daughter’s response completely. Nothing more heartbreaking than a “friend” behaving like this. It shatters a lot of illusions. I like the action you took.

  • kathryn

    Give her a big hug from me. Horrible when someone you trust betrays you whatever age you are but things like this hurt even worse at her age. She’s a great kid and I know she’ll deal with it well, as you have done

  • Lisa

    I watched a movie on Netlix two nights ago called cyberbullying. You should watch it if you have time its gritty educational movie where a family member and best friend use a girls social media account she gets bullied and very harsh but moving…

  • Gabrielle

    I’m glad you were able to sort it out. Not a nice situation for your girl. May I ask how “Next I requested a full data archive of her account from Facebook.” you achieved this? I can never find these things when I need them so good to know just in case.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: