Drive home.
Order pizza.
Let her hide from everything.
But that would have meant two things.
She would lose something she had wanted for months because other children had scared her away.
And she would avoid taking responsibility for what she had done.
Neither felt right.
I looked at Karen.
“What can we realistically do?”
Within twenty minutes, we had a plan.
Greta and the other girls would be placed in separate cabins and activity groups.
Staff would know about the conflict.
Counselors would watch their interactions carefully.
Each family would handle consequences for its own child.
And Greta’s retaliation would not be excused simply because she had been hurt first.
I took Greta into the hallway.
Then I crouched in front of her.
“I’m going to ask you one question.”
She wiped her nose.
“If those girls weren’t here, would you still want to stay at camp?”
She thought for a moment.
“Yes.”
“Then you don’t have to give up something you want because you’re afraid.”
I paused.
