Trudy finished her food and asked if she could play a little more.
"One more hour," Dwight said.
He took her into the play area. A woman stopped Marsha as she was following them.
"You know," she said, "I'm a child therapist. It is okay to tell her no sometimes."
Marsha took a deep breath. She was beginning to feel frustrated.
"Do you have a name?" she asked.
"Everyone has a name," the woman said, "Mine is Heather."
"Well Heather," Marsha said, "Being a child therapist I'm sure you are used to families with problems. You may be used to spoiled kids. My daughter is far from spoiled. She has leukemia and spends every other day on chemo and treatments."
"I'm so sorry," Heather said, "I just assumed. You know the bible says it's bad to spoil children, but I guess you can't… handle misbehavior in the typical way anymore-"
"I believe in GOD," Marsha said, "But the bible also says to stone your children for disobeying their parents. We do not harm our child."
"It's not harmful," Heather said, "It's just discipline. You don't want to encourage poor behavior do you-"
"Trudy isn't a typical child for one thing," Marsha said, "She's sensitive. Secondly, she's not your child. She's Dwight and my daughter. Finally, her so-called poor behavior doesn't even exist."
"Is she a sinner," Heather asked.
"If you're asking if she's human the answer of course is yes. If you're asking that in the literal sense of the word, then no. She's far from it."
"Then she must be a weakling. I can hardly believe that she's exceptional."
"I can hardly believe I'm having this conversation with someone I don't even know," Marsha said.
"Are you suggesting that she's exceptional," Heather asked.
"I'm not suggesting anything," Marsha replied, "I'm saying for a fact that my daughter is not your concern. Look, I have to go now."
"Before you do," Heather said holding up a hand, "I teach a class on how to raise children. You'd be welcome to attend."
She handed Marsha her card.
"Remember," she added, "The bible says not to spare the rod."
"I'm not a good enough actress to pretend to care," Marsha said.
She started to walk away.
"I'll pray for you," Heather called out.
"Yeah?" Marsha asked, whirling around, "I'll pray for you too."
She looked Heather in the eyes.
"I'll pray that your child never has leukemia. I pray that you never get to the point where discipline, not punishment but discipline is the least of your worries. I'll pray that you are never in a chemo and treatment center watching your three-year-old go through painful treatments and waking up sore afterwards because she needs them to kill the cancer cells that are killing her. I pray that you never have to be scared when your child has a slight fever or gets stung by a bee. I'll pray that you never go through a time where you literally can't make a mistake because it could mean your child's life will end. Most of all I pray that you learn empathy. It's very easy to tell people what you think they're doing wrong but until you're in their shoes you have no idea how much you don't know."
"I'm sorry," Heather said, "Do you have any other kids?"
"No. Trudy is our first and our only."
"That's a shame," Heather said, "If she dies-"
"If she dies you think having more kids will help the grief? Lady, have you ever lost a child?"
"No. But neither have you," Heather pointed out, "I teach on this subject."
"So you teach on a subject you have no knowledge of?"
"That's not a very nice thing to say," Heather objected
"You are talking to the mother of a dying child," Marsha pointed out, "She has cancer. She is on chemo and treatment that is painful which is killing the cancer that is killing her. Do you really think I'm with 'having more children in case Trudy dies'? Having more children wouldn't be fair to Trudy nor would it be fair to the other children. Children need attention and love from their parents. Trudy needs more attention then we can divide between two or more kids. Maybe you should take some classes before you teach them."
"All I'm saying is it's good for children to hear the word no-"
"She hears the word no every time she wants to skip her treatment," Marsha said, "I can't have this conversation anymore."
She walked away and went into the play area.