Through a Child's Eyes
Alexandria Nicole Wiechman
Yesterday after my 4-year-old granddaughter, Alexandria, (Allie), got home from visiting with her dad, I was outside with her and she was riding her bike on the sidewalk. We were having a nice time after being indoors over the winter.
There were some other little girls playing outside a few houses down from our house. Suddenly, we heard one of them crying so we looked down the street and one of the little girls had fallen off her bike. She was probably about 3 years old. She was crying and crying. A bigger girl, probably about 8 or 9 years old, who was with them, and her dad or some other adult came out and helped her get up.
Alexandria was concerned about the little girl who was hurt, and she told me that she wanted to go and make sure that she was ok. I told her, "Go ahead and I will stand here and watch you to make sure that you are ok."
She walked down to where the little girl had fallen and was talking to the girls. There were about 3 or 4 girls, and the 2 older ones were maybe 7 or 8 years old. Alexandria was talking to them for a few minutes. Then for some reason, she came running down the sidewalk toward our house. I hurried and went to her and she started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she was so upset that I had to pick her up to try to get her calmed down. She told me that the girls had hurt her feelings. She finally stopped crying. I put her down and took her hand and walked down to where the girls were still standing outside. I asked them if they knew why she was crying. They said, "Yes, she was telling us about bikes and we already know about bikes."
We have lived in our house for 27 years. The people who live in the house where the little girl lives who had gotten hurt went to school with our children and their parents live on the other end of our block. We have known this family for years, which is why I had let Allie go down there in the first place, because I thought that it would be a good opportunity for her to meet their girls.
The mother of some of the girls had gotten there just before we had, and when I told her that Allie was crying because they had hurt her feelings, she made the girls apologize to Allie. She was the sister of the dad to the little girl who had been hurt. I told them that Allie was worried about the little girl that had fallen off the bike and that she is a very loving little girl and that she was concerned. They looked at me like I was from another planet or something.
We have always taught Alexandria to be loving and kind. Since this happened to her, I wonder, what is she going to think of the world now? I know that bad things happen in the world today. It is very sad when an act of kindness and caring by a 4-year-old is treated like it is a crime. I felt so bad for her and I was almost in tears when I saw how hurt she was. We want our children to be respectful and loving, caring, and kind. When this kind of thing happens, what are we supposed to tell them? The sad thing is that those girls were old enough to know better than to treat another little girl that way. They could have been friends.
When I brought Allie home after that happened, she told me that she hates those girls and that they were stupid. I told her that we are not supposed to hate anyone, and that we have to just forgive and forget. I just hope and pray that what happened doesn't make her afraid to try to make friends again with other children. I also hope that those girls will remember how badly they hurt her and that they will not treat anyone else that way.
By Charlotte Anne Seigler Miller
March 28, 2004