the tears of a child afraid, confused, and unaware of why they are being punished or otherwise reprimanded can be more painful to the soul than most of the foulest events in love and heartbreak. i saw the tears well up as she looked at me for help, she did not understand and only knew that something was wrong and so she cried…a child doesn’t understand the feeling of the word “sorry” and i wish people could figure out that scolding them to say “i’m sorry” isn’t going to teach them anything except an automated conditioned respose without any validity behind it…the precious time i enjoy spending with her had to be trampled because she used a word she didn’t understand with insult and someone wished her to apologize for her actions. she had no idea what she had done and had no clue what the words even meant. so instead of seeing her laugh and play and smile, i listened to her cry out for protection and solace for those of us that were not allowed to help her while she was being scolded and punished. i also don’t think this person realized that by trying to force a response from her that she only understood that she said something to ME and then got in trouble, she looked at me as if i was the one doing it…i can only relate that she probably places me at fault for being told “tell daniel you’re sorry” repeatedly. being a child with less abstract mental skills than an adult, i can only hope that she can forget about the events and not hold me responsible for her punishment. i haven’t had that type of swelling in my soul for quite some time, and now that i think of it, maybe i should have cried instead of biting my lip, maybe then they would stop and try to understand the pain as well.