A few months back my baby did something I was so proud of her for. Today she did a similar thing and it reminded me of it. McKenzie will be in the third grade at WTE this fall. Before school let out we went to Burger King after picking her up. When we walk in I notice a boy and his parents. The boy is in a wheelchair and his face and hands were drawn up. He was yelling and seemed upset. Kenzie heard the boy yell and stood up on her tippy toes to look over the wall. I thought No Kenzie NO! Dont stare! What does my baby do? Yells JOSH! (I think that was the name) And runs over to the table. She says HI josh waving ecstatically! Josh struggles to lift his little hand but waves back. His parents looked shocked. She said Im McKenzie and Josh comes to my class with Mr Brian (special ed teacher) sometimes! I just wanted to come say hi! His moms eyes welled up with years and said I dont think thats ever happened. Kids are usually a little confused. Its VERY nice to meet you McKenzie she talked with her about Burger King being Joshs favorite after school spot and Kenzie agreed it was hers too. It took everything I had not to cry right there. I learned three things that day from my 7 year old: 1. Never underestimate the power of a child heart or the lesson that can be learned from them. 2. Kids arent born bullies they are made that way. We make them mean. They are innately nice and caring creatures. They are not born racist or bigoted ....we make them that way! 3. I am truly lucky for my healthy babies. Kenzies dad had had a talk with her about people being different in all ways but never to be mean to someone over those differences. I had no clue the lasting impact it had on her or that the lesson even stuck!
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:45:17 +0000