Julia and Mia were born 4 days apart in October. And their parents have become close friends and so they are good friends. The difference is that if Mia’s dad, say, has a cool new toy, like a running watch that I like, I won’t try to rip it off his wrist and say, “Mine!” until I scream and wrestle the watch away from him.
But Julia on the other hand ….
At a recent birthday party of a mutual friend of Julia’s and Mia’s, Julia was playing with the birthday girl in a bedroom when Mia walked in. Now I didn’t witness what happened next, but my investigative reporting skills uncovered the story. Apparently Julia saw Mia and yelled out, “I don’t want you to play with us.”
Mia stood there, apparently stunned. Until Julia walked over and actually started pushing her. A parent intervened and tried to explain how that wasn’t nice, but of course Mia was sad and told her parents, who, thankfully, told us. That night,we debated whether to just drop it or confront it. I wanted to confront it. I asked Julia how she’d feel if someone had said that to her, and pushed her. “Sad,” she said.
Next, I picked up the phone and called Mia’s house. Her dad did a quick explanation to Mia and then put Mia on the phone, and if you’ve never seen a pair of 3-year olds talk on the phone, well, you haven’t lived.
“You hurt my feelings, Julia, but we’re still friends,” Mia said in her best impression of a 13-year old girl.
“I’m sorry Mia,” Julia answered.
That was followed by some political chit-chat, whining about the economy, and talk of a play date. Soon.