Can she play?
Can the good child help?
Everybody loves her.
No one wants me.
She gets straight As.
She makes sports teams.
Runs, jumps, leaps high.
Everybody loves her.
No one wants me.
If they don't want me.
I don't want them.
***
Can the good child come over?
Can she play?
Can the good child help?
I hope mom and dad say, "Yes."
They're too busy for me.
I must not make a mistake.
They have enough on their plates.
I need to run, run away.
Everybody loves her.
No one wants me.
If they don't want me.
I don't want them.
***
My dear children, you are both good.
Your worth is not measured
In the invitations or attention you receive.
Do not keep score.
Neither one of you more.
Mistakes will be made,
Parent and child alike.
One of you runs
The other skips to a beat.
It is not a race to be won.
You are wanted.
You are loved.
***
This poem catalogues some of the complex feelings we have been navigating as a family as one child gets invites and the unintentional hurt felt by the child that doesn't. It is not any one individual. Some children require more TLC and we have watched this develop over years. When the sum of the invites is considered, the result is unintentional exclusion. I don't have an answer, so I don't expect others to have one either. However, sometimes we must decline invites and just be a family, where everyone is accepted and feels wanted.
