Today was my son’s, Liam, author’s picnic at school. Each kindergartener wrote and illustrated their own story. Family is invited to listen to the stories and then share in a picnic lunch. This is a very special time for the children. This is viewed as their “graduation.” Liam wrote about the Three Little Pigs. He did need the help of the teacher, as he is painfully shy.
At a time where all should be happy, my heart broke a little today.
There is a boy in Liam’s class who is known as the bully and problem child. All year long Liam has come home with stories of what this boy did today. Liam came home one day, a couple of months ago, and told me this boy punched him at recess. Another day the boy told Liam that he was stronger then God and could fight Him. When I volunteer at the school I have seen first hand this boy is a hand full. He is forever interrupting, not following class rules, being rude, aggressive, annoying and getting negative attention any way he can.
He could be labeled as a problem child or even ADHD. Well, today I got a little inside of why he might act this way. Out of all the children in the kindergarten class, he was the only one without a family member attending. We sat at the same table with him for lunch and the teacher came to eat with him when she had an extra minute. He told us he had to stay for the whole day because his parents weren’t there to take him home. His voice and tone was not sad, but almost angry, annoyed and matter of fact.
It actually made me very sad to see this little boy, by himself, eating his lunch. It is hard for me to understand why someone could not be there for him. It doesn’t take a physiologist to see the correlation between his actions and feeling abandoned or forgotten.
I am not saying the parents are intentionally neglecting him or that his parents are “bad.” I don’t know the situation within that family and I am not trying to judge them. I am saying that our children need to feel secure and loved in order to function properly. No child goes through life without ups and downs, but there are too many growing into adulthood feeling like no one loves them.
If you had a difficult childhood please remember that God loves you. You are one of His children. If you are a parent, I encourage you to love your children. Accept them for who they are and what gifts God has given them. Play with your kids. Interact with them. Ask them how their day is going. Keep a communication with them, so they will come to you when they have a problem. Empathize with them. But most importantly show them how to be followers of God through example. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Please pray for families. Pray that there may be unity, love and God in all families.
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