Tess had a revelation when she was about 5 or so. I'd taught her to introduce herself to kids she didn't know. Trying to combat this adult phobia of talking to strangers, maybe?
So one time she was swimming in the kiddie pool at the JCC (Jewish Community Center...think "YMCA") in Albuquerque, and she cheerfully said, "Hi, I'm Tess!" and the older girl sneered at her and made some comment back like, "Who cares? You're weird!"
I felt like I'd been teaching my kid that Santa Claus is real or something. It was heartwrenching for me to hear the story, and yet....that's how we are, isn't it? We are not a friendly society..... on the surface.
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Tess had a revelation when she was about 5 or so. I'd taught her to introduce herself to kids she didn't know. Trying to combat this adult phobia of talking to strangers, maybe?
So one time she was swimming in the kiddie pool at the JCC (Jewish Community Center...think "YMCA") in Albuquerque, and she cheerfully said, "Hi, I'm Tess!" and the older girl sneered at her and made some comment back like, "Who cares? You're weird!"
I felt like I'd been teaching my kid that Santa Claus is real or something. It was heartwrenching for me to hear the story, and yet....that's how we are, isn't it? We are not a friendly society..... on the surface.