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Every day as the kids finish their day of school, we ask them how things went for them. It has been our ritual so far. Christina and I just want to make sure that the kids are adjusting well. One day, Karissa responded by telling us of something that happened with one of her classmates.
Supposedly, a girl in her class made a mean comment about Karrisa’s ID card. The picture that the school used for Karissa was not the right size – they blew up her picture and it appears bigger than all the other kids. The girl said to Karissa, “You are ugly because your face is SO BIG.” I could tell that Karissa was visibly saddened by this as she was telling the story.
My first reaction was go to school and rebuke this girl for making fun of my daughter. But I realized that was not a good option (nor a good example); therefore I began to explain to Karissa that this girl probably has some “issues” in her life and that she responded the way she because she was jealous. I think I lost Karissa in my explanation because she had this look on her face that read, “What in the world are you talking about dad? I do not understand you!”
Christina then proceeding to take over and encourage Karissa that sometimes people do mean things therefore we have to respond with love. Christina continued to explain that when people receive love, their heart opens up and they respond more positively. I still think that 6 year old girl has issues 🙂
Next day, we went through our same ritual and then Karissa told us something that was a blessing. Karissa supposedly confronted the girl and said, “I really didn’t like what you said to me yesterday. It was very mean of you, but I still want to be your friend.” Wow! Thank God Karissa took her mom’s advice instead of the father.
I was so blessed because first of all, Karissa expressed how she was feeling (not all 5.5 year olds can do this); and then secondly because she was able to demonstrate grace to a person who did not deserve it.
Karissa is learning about the Gospel… thank God for mommy… please pray for daddy.