A Scapegoat in Training?

Yesterday, my oldest daughter Jessie was babysitting a 4 year old girl.  We were sitting at the table and the little girl came over to me and my youngest daughter Maggie, and told us to hide when her mommy came back.  I asked her why?  She said her mommy would throw us out.

I said, "Oh, I'm allowed to visit here, and your mommy won't mind."

With her eyes wide open, she said, "No, please hide, I don't want you to get into trouble."

At that point Jessie took her back to the livingroom, to so some crafts.  I asked Jessie what she was talking about, and Jessie just said that the child loved to make up stories.  The little girl came back into the kitchen and said it would be best for me to hide, and Jessie laughed, and I'm ashamed to say so did I.

Now when I look back on it, this little girl was afraid for me and Maggie and seriously wanted us to leave.  I told her that Jessie was my daughter and I can visit her anytime, and her mommy won't say anything.  I could tell right away the child was smart and sweet, and charming.  Have you ever seen that in a child before?  I'm sure I could hold a very serious discussion with this child and she would understand everything, and could even teach me a few things.

Her mother arrived.  She did not throw us out.  I'll call her Janet.  Well Janet was loud and demanding type woman, probably in her late twenties.  She talked about her whole life and how everyone had wronged her, and she was this great and wonderful person.  I didn't get the feeling that she was a victim, and she seemed to connect to Maggie in a way that even Maggie was uncomfortable with.

Maggie, my youngest, was diagnosed with narcissism, some time ago.  But Maggie is twenty with a newborn son, and really, to tell the truth, I hold her at a high standard.  I raised my children in church and I believe God will not leave them, for my sake.

So anyway, Maggie has been having trouble with the father of her baby, she shares custody with. She doesn't want to share custody.  She wants the baby all to herself and her new man.  She wants the bio dad gone.  That isn't going to happen, and I explained all this to her, and told her sometimes we don't like certain things, and they will happen, and we must accept them.

Well, Janet was trying to tell her how to lie to the courts.  Maggie looked over at me and winced. She knows this could cause serious consequences with the courts, and she knows how I feel about it.  As long as that father is involved in the baby's life, it is a good thing.  That baby is surrounded by lots of people who love him, including her new man.

That conversation went away, and after Janet left, I looked over at Jessie.  She said, "Yeah, I know what you're going to say, and believe me I'm no target."

We didn't talk about it anymore.  But I kept thinking of that little girl.  Her eyes were so wide and serious, and she was so worried about us, she had to tell us.  She wasn't lying, she would have had to see her mother get like that, and told us the truth, and what we could have been in for.