Dear Cortney

Dear Cortney,

Today we were at the park and there were some kids there that were being so rude to you.  There were these twins, a boy and a girl, who were about 1 year older than you who were being just awful.  At one point the girl was trying to push you under the slide, and being bigger than you she was succeeding until her mom finally stepped in.   Then later the girl was trying to hog this toy all to herself, that 3 kids can easily fit on.  Being the loving, friendly, happy girl that you are you tried to go play with her even though she was being rude earlier.  She wouldn't let you on, then yelled to her brother that you were being rude to her.  At which point her brother came over and started yelling at you, and their mom did nothing.

I felt so sad that you had to go through something like this, especially at such a young age.  I took you aside and we played by ourselves picking dandelions and had a talk about having nice friends and not so nice friends.  We talked about how you did nothing wrong, they just were not being very nice to you.  After a while we went back to the playground and you found some new friends to play with that were nice and you had so much fun that you didn't want to go home for lunch.

I just wanted to write this in hopes that one day you can read this.  You probably wont remember this experience, but looking back I want you to remember a couple things.  First I want you to remember that I love that you were so forgiving and tried to play with a girl who was rude to you - that was the right choice, sometimes even though you don't do anything wrong, people will be rude to you.  You are such a happy, loving, and kind person - I could not ask for a more wonderful daughter. Second, I want you to remember what happened after we stepped away from the situation, you went back and made different friends that were better for you.  If you ever find yourself in a situation that is headed in the wrong direction or making you unhappy, take a step back, think about what is best, and move forward.  Sometimes this means fixing what is broken, and in this case it means moving on to something better.

I love you so much.  Again I am so sad that you had to deal with something like being so young this but so proud of the way you handled the situation.  As your mom I could have stepped in and confronted the kids and their parents - but I am well pleased I didn't have to.  You didn't fight back, you didn't yell back, and you even tried to be nice to them again.  You handled the situation amazingly  by yourself.  I am pleased I am raising a child that is independent and can handle difficult situations.  You are growing up to be such a wonderful and loving person.  I love you Miss Cortney,

Love Mom