Wow, today I had to watch my 6 year old run up the stairs and cry. I bet most of you are thinking about now this is pretty normal but when you read on you will find out it really isn't. Princess #2 is in K-Garten. She was moved back from 1st grade for some learning issues that were found and we are addressing them now. She has grown so much over the last months there. When we moved her she fell in love with this beautiful girl and they fast became "best friends" There wasn't a day and still isn't a day that goes by that the princess doesn't talk about her.
Today when I picked her up from the bus she excitingly tells me she is going to her BFFs house. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea because I hadn't communicated with her mother but I didn't think it would hurt if dad dropped her by to see if BFF could come out, come over or our princess could come in to play for a moment or two.
The Captain was met at the front door by BFFs older sister and was told that the mother was busy...either napping, showering or "something". So our princess comes home crying heartbroken.
Now why is this all so important to you? The Captain is a veteran of the Iraq war. He was wounded. He has a few reasons to be bitter, mean etc to people. However he is not. That is one of the many reasons I love him. Our princess chose to be BFFs with a beautiful little girl who's family is Muslim. Their looks are polar opposites. We have no issue with this. We encouraged them to be BFF's. We never said a sour word about their friendship. Never said anything but how proud we were she had such a wonderful friend. Apparently that isn't true for them. My husband went one day to take the princess for a play date. He was invited in and in conversation it was brought up he was wounded in Iraq...the rest we say, is history. Days later the BFF told the princess she hated her. That passed and when I would run into the family I was told the princess was welcome anytime. I offered to open my home up too. I guess it is too much for them to allow their child to be friends with mine.
To make matters in my life more interesting our neighbor is Muslim. I really like them. They are kind people. I have been invited to tea. I just can't seem to accept the invitation because I don't want to end up being hated by them too. My heart is broken for my princess. I can't explain this to her. It is way above her head. I suppose the good thing is they are moving this summer. The bad thing is we have messed up this neighborhood by moving in. We don't fit in here. I am sure the moment we stepped out of the car with his Purple Heart plates and our crazy lives they all said "There goes the neighborhood!"
Linked here from Wounded Warrior Wife blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for the difficulty your daughter is having. It is so unfair. We faced something like that (but not Muslim-related) when we moved to a new community and our youngest daughter was 7. It is hard for the children and their parents!
BTW, Cheryl wrote a guest post for a marriage series on my blog. Her article is here: http://warrenbaldwin.blogspot.com/2011/01/guest-post-on-marriage-challenging.html if you care to read it.
Thanks to you husband and your family for serving.
Warren