Image by Reachupforthestars via Flickr
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Having special children has helped shape us into kinder, more compassionate people. We can safely say, we like pretty much anyone who shows any kindness toward us.
“Pat, I love that lady. She saw me wiggling in the ladies room line and let me go ahead of her.”
“I saw that, Gene. If only the rest of the world had such bathroom courtesy. Surely, there would be less accidents.”
And if you show kindness toward our special children, there’s no telling how far we will go to show how much we appreciate it. “Mom, don’t you think buying a pony is a little too much for Susie? All she did was invite me to her birthday party.”
Yes, there’s nothing that warms our imperfect hearts more than seeing someone show kindness and compassion to our children.
But the fact is, there are some people that just can’t. People who like to point out our children’s deficiencies and to judge them. (“Why does your daughter keep shooting at the wrong basket?”) People who can only be referred to in one way — mean people.
Unfortunately, if you have a special child, you may run into your share of them. Check out the blog below as a mother of a disabled child shares her encounter with mean people. Then post a comment and tell us how you deal with the Cruella de Ville’s in your world.
The part about the pony rang true! Whenever someone has been kind to me or my family (in spite of our imperfections) , I am so grateful that I have to stop myself from going overboard with them. I never forget their kindness.
As for the mean ones, well I have to stop myself there too and unfortunately I never forget them either.
What really sucks is when the mean people are in your family. My father actually told my special needs child one day that if he wasn’t such a pain in the butt people would like him and want to be around him. Needless to say, my dad is very low on my good people list.
But when a complete stranger tells me how funny and cute my son is, my chest puffs out and I the smile on my face is huge. Then I ask them if they want to borrow him for a couple of hours so I can get some rest. LOL j/k (kinda).