Dear Savvy Auntie,
My niece is almost 20-years-old, and we are very close. I love her to death and spend lots of one-on-one time with her.
Recently, she's seemed a little depressed. She's smart, funny, sweet, adventurous, and very pretty, and she has several boys after her (though none of whom she is interested in), but because she is not the typical college kid– she's not a huge partier and has never had a relationship with a boy (she's waiting to find one she really likes) –a few of her friends have been calling her a dork, a loser, and weird.
She knows that a lot of this is in jest, but it still hurts her, and it's getting to the point where she's starting to believe what her friends are saying. I make it a point to tell her every time I see her that she's not a dork, she's not a loser, and being weird is good – everyone is weird. And I know it means a lot to her, but I don't know if my telling her she's a good kid is enough.
It's so hard to see her self-esteem drooping. Is there anything else I can do to make her feel better?
Auntie-Bullying