How my little girl made a tough teenaged punk cry!

Submitted by Thorniest Rose on April 19, 2006 - 10:36pm.

Want to hear a cool story?

About 3 or 4 years ago one summer, I was picking my daughter (8 yrs) and son (4) up from their daycamp and the counsellor there pulled me aside urgently just as I arrived at my daughter's group.

Slightly alarmed, I listened as this pierced, painted, punk teenager teared up while telling me something that had happened that day involving my daughter.

There was a special needs girl in my daughter's group - she had Down's syndrome and it looked like more than a mild case - she also had a shadow with her.

Theatre time in camp and everyone was assigned a role, except for the DS child, and they all began to practice.
Apparently, my daughter stopped the "production" and, in a surprised tone, informed the counsellors they had forgotten to include the girl (I wish I knew her name).

She left the group, placed an arm around this girl, and physically brought her into the circle, then she suggested a few different roles for the girl to adopt.

As she told me the story, the teenager began to cry, saying that my daughter was a model for all of them, that she was always including the special needs child in a "business-as-usual" kind of way that, according to the teenager, they could all learn. "How did you raise her to be so sensitive and accepting?" this girl asked me....

I was so thrilled, so gratified, with this story. It's one of my favourite anecdotes...what a feeling I had. Not only was my child not turning into a shallow bully but she had the depth to accept everyone's differences and to make the most of them. According to the school's social worker, who observes kids from time to time and offers various programs to the kids, my daughter is a leader, despite her extreme shyness.

I haven't thought about this story in a long time...but recently rereading the "Retarded" post reminded me. Kids behave differently today than in our day...more accepting of the hearing aid, the wheelchair, the extra weight. It's wonderful...now if we could get them to stay that way when they grow up!