Thursday 6 June 2013

Moral Conundrum

Is it wrong for me to dislike a child? Not hate as hate is too strong a word, but be really really irritated by them?  And this isn't even my own child (god knows I can be irritated by them when they don't listen or leave toys all over the floor or kick off when you're in the supermarket...)

No, this is a friend of my biggest girl, lets call her Sally.  A year older than my gorgeous girl, Sally seems to throw her weight around as she "is the oldest".  Divisive & manipulative I watch this child coercing my girl into games or situations I can tell that she would rather not be involved in.  She tells tales on my youngest daughter which grates on me a lot as I keep pointing out to this girl, my smallest girl may not be the best behaved child but she is half her age so she needs to cut her some slack.

Girl 1 comes home with stories of how Sally has sent people over to ask her to play with her or declared that she has no other friends & demands that my girl stops what she is doing / who she is playing with and fall in with whatever this other girl wants.  The emotional blackmail sets me teeth on edge.  I am trying so hard not to say anything negative about this girl, I know she is not my friend so I don't necessarily have to like her but still...

I have tried to talk around the point that maybe it's not very fair that Sally wants her to drop her other friends whenever she clicks her fingers & I think it's sinking in a bit.  My girl recently negotiated with Sally that either she join in with the existing game or she would play with her another day.  A very proud mummy moment there. 

But disliking a child makes me feel like a bad person.  She is after all 9 and therefore 30 years younger than me.  Maybe I should cut her some slack?

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