Yet another reason...

....I won't be sad to move. So neighbor kids M & J come over and knock on the door to ask if Noodle can play. The three of them play together for a half hour or so outside, and then decide they want to play inside M & J's house. M & J's mom has said that each of them could only have one friend in the house, and J (the girl close to Noodle's age) invites B over, even though J has been playing with Noodle happily for the past half hour. Then J & B both brattily tell Noodle that she can't come in, and they parade from B's place to J's place (right past our apartment) holding hands and acting all bratty towards Noodle. I was so mad, and poor Noodle was just crushed. I get her to come inside and have her sit on the sofa with me and she says, "They're not doing what Heavenly Father wants them to do, because they're not being nice to me." "I know sweetie." "I need to go tell them they should do what Heavenly Father wants them to do." "You can't, sweetie, because they didn't invite you to come." She went on about it for a bit longer, until finally I was able to distract her with her "quiet time snack" and take her in her room to read stories and take a nap. I'm annoyed at the bratty girls, of course, but more annoyed at their idiot mother who only allows one friend over when there are obviously three little girls playing together. Does one more little girl make such a difference? I don't think so. So I vented to David about it on the phone just now and he said that it is a typical behavior of poor people -- they set themselves up to "control" situations, resources, etc because they have always felt deprived. I think he's right on in this case. And not that "not-poor" people don't do this, too, but it seems to be particularly obvious in poor people who just feel like there isnt' enough ________ for everyone, so you've got to stick it to someone, especially if someone has more _________ than you. Obviously not all poor people are like this, but people with a "poor mentality" tend to be. Because heaven knows that the past year we've been poorer than poor, but we don't suffer from the same afflictive mentality. There is a lot to be said for David's idea of having an "abundance mentality". Approach life with the paradigm that there is enough for you and for everyone.

It's especially hard because Noodle loves to share things with her friends and invite them over to play here. And I either allow no kids into play, or allow all of the girls playing together to come in. We've had several little girls here at the same time playing together. I just won't support such exclusivity among kids when it is totally arbitrary.

Sigh...