Sunday, March 14, 2010

Disturbing.

This morning I was really excited to share pics off my new app from my iPhone and write about girlie sleepovers filled with wine, movies, comfy pillows and painting nails with my sister. It felt like a flash forward from preteen nights when we would wait till our parents went to bed and watch the movies that we secretly
rented but weren't allowed to see (Austin Powers being one of them).
But I can't write about that. I'm too upset.
I wanted to write about a little girl who has become obsessed with OOA-t-ameal these days and would like to eat it till she turned into a goat. (Do goats eat oats?) Either way it doesn't matter, I can't think about goats and oats and little girls who have forgotten all other food groups. I'm crying.
It would be fun to talk about silly bath time in the Mac house and how every night the kiddos race madly up the stairs to see who can get under the running water first. That's just not going to happen because my hands are still shaky and every 5 seconds I am backspacing to fix a spelling error. (And I'm a poor typer to begin with. I do that two finger home row fake out with the double thumb space bar tap.)
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All because of this.
The Hubby took the kids to McDonald's to burn off some energy while I went for coffee with a friend. They love the play place and spend many cold/wet/gross days expending hyperness there, all to help bedtime come a tinsie bit faster.

The Prince loves making new friends.
The other day we were in the mall walking past a pet store and he asked if he could go say hi. I said yes and rather than walking up to the windows of puppies he walked up to a group of kids standing in the entrance and said "HI!" with a big smile on his face.
He loves people. Which is a part of the reason why we watch him constantly when we're in public. Stranger Danger is a hard concept for him. Why would anyone do anything to hurt him?
And you know what? I've wondered that myself. But I am an adult and I know what other adults are capable of. I read the news. Sadly. And I know what some kids are capable of. I went to school. (Sadly.)

Today was different.

My Husband was watching the kids. He had eyes on them and was within earshot the whole time they were climbing in and out of the jungle gym. He even stepped in when two older (10?) girls started pushing around The Prince. But McDonald's is slightly stupid. They make OPAQUE coloured tubes that we stick our kids in and trust that other kids are just there to play.
Not so.
As far as we CAN understand (because The Prince doesn't always realize when other kids are being mean or rude or cruel) these girls purposefully scratched up his back for shits and giggles.
THEY DIDN'T LIKE HIM.

Now I know that The Prince himself is not an angel and I have on occasion been the parent apologizing to the other parent who is justifiably upset. Only, The Prince is different than most other kids. He isn't yet able to verbally solve a problem every time. And when he gets overwhelmed he can get physical. Which is why WE ARE THERE.

Then there's the fact that kids will be kids and in our society we have swung from the extreme overprotective parenting style to the free range parenting style. I GET that The Prince will be a boy. Trust me, I have cleaned up scrapped knees and put arnica on random bruises and iced goose eggs. I know he needs to learn some things for himself.

THIS WAS NOT A LESSON I WANTED HIM TO EVER LEARN. (Especially not at FOUR.)
Some parents think that ten is the new fourteen. That two girls can go into a play place unsupervised and "squish like a pancake" my son and SCRATCH THEIR NAILS INTO HIS BACK! NO, I DON'T THINK SO.

It is cruel beyond belief and when he got into the bathtub tonight to play with his new boat, I saw those marks and I cried. I apologized to him for not seeing what earlier I had thought was a small scratch probably from the slide. I told him that Daddy and I were there to protect him and that I wish I had.
And you know what? He told me it was "Okay Mommy."

I may joke about mothering. About the crazy moments that I can flunk and bomb and flat on my face fail, but the parents of these girls hit rock bottom.
LESSON ONE: BE KIND UNTO OTHERS.
Lesson stinkin' one.
I tucked this sweet (and sometimes bratty) boy into bed and I kissed him, and his boo boos and I prayed that Jesus would heal any pain, physical or otherwise, and I prayed that He would protect The Prince when I couldn't because it is taking everything in me not to bubble wrap him and stick him in an armed safe.

(And you bet your ass I went to that McDonald's and will be picking up the surveillance tape tomorrow. Then what? I track down the girls and make them say sorry. Maybe.)

See? Disturbing.

3 comments:

  1. Oh dear. I felt similar when a kid at school pushed Aaron and scratched his neck and chest quite badly. Fortunately for the other kid that the teacher was the one dealing with it and not me. (however, that was another 4 year old. 10 year olds had NO excuse.)So sorry this happened to him.
    Anna

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  2. This broke my heart. I'm really, really sorry. But I'm really, really happy I stumbled upon your blog because I love your writing.

    Made love from Seattle. xoxo

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  3. Thanks so much! :) His back is healing perfectly!

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