Bent

I am trying to remember funny stories from the past before I forget them. So we got M in the spring semester of her kindergarten year. The girl was SO wild....really, like a wild animal! But she was (and still is) so sweet. She liked everyone....really....there just still aren't many people she doesn't like. And she has a real gift to see past the exterior of people and see their hearts. She has always been able to like and take in the "unlikeable" people. So it was a little surprising when her teacher told us that she just isn't nice to a kid we will call David. She never liked to stand by him in line. She would throw a fit if she had to be by him for any reason. It was so unlike her and we just couldn't figure it out. So we ask her:

M, why don't you like David? Why are you mean to him?

He is mean to the teacher and that isn't nice

Well, is it going to help for you to be mean to him?

No.

There must be a reason. M, why don't you like him?

Well, because he isn't straight.

Oh my goodness, this kindergartner knows more than I think! And really, does she REALLY think this kid is gay? What? This doesn't make sense, so I said:

What do you mean he isn't straight?

You know....he just isn't straight like you and Autumn. He is bent.

Bent? I am thinking.......does he have back problems? Is he handicapped?

You know...bent.....fat.

Being the great new foster mom and children's minister, right away I think......she thinks I'm straight! Yay! I'm straight!!!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!!!!! ...............I mean..............M, you know other people who are bent and you love them!

Yeah, but he's just real bent, and nasty. He is mean to the teacher and he sticks his hands in his hiny then to his mouth.

You're right...that is nasty, but we have to be nice.

A month or so later, I went on a field trip with her class and saw exactly what she meant. He is just a kid that gets his food all over his face when he eats, he is loud.....just kind of hard to be around. So we talked about poor bent David almost every day for a while, and over the past few years she has come to appreciate him for who he is. She isn't his best friend, but she will go out of her way to say hello and say something kind every once in a while. Love this girl!