When it works...

The other night E was talking about another girl at school who wants her to help with a special thing she gets to do. My ears perked up immediately. This little girl in question is known to want to be exclusive friends and could fall under the umbrella of mean girl. I knew she had been with another little girl that I knew. My eyebrow arched and the inside of me stirred a little bit. I wondered aloud as to why she chose E to do this special thing with her. Turns out they have been playing together at recess.

I talked to E about playing with everyone. My hope is that she wont fall prey to being mean to others just because someone else is. E immediately chirped up that she'd never be mean to someone else and plays with everyone who wants to play with her. We further went on to discuss the importance of even playing with people who are different. She said, "You mean different like J?" Yup, different like J.

Growing up with a brother who is different has to be challenging what with the yelling and fit throwing that goes on here from time to time. E just rolls with it though and never seems too terribly upset about it when it happens. She just seems to get that people have challenges and when they do, you just do the best you can to help them through it.

On Friday I talked to another Mom at school who has a son who might fall into the "different" category and apparently, he just loves E. He talks about her all the time and gives her hugs. I love that E doesn't shy away from kids who are different, nor make fun of them either. She thinks it's great the boy likes her and plays with him too.

Although we're not perfect or typical, we're pretty patient with people in general. It's nice to see that in my little girl and know that her heart is mostly in the right place. Beats having a mean girl...