Did I teach them well?

Ever since Courtney was very little I have tried to instill good things in her. One of the most important to me especially is not be prejudiced, not just to color, but to disabilities as well. My best friend in the ENTIRE world (you know who you are and I know your smiling right now) is black. My other best friend, who unfortunately passed away unexpectedly last year, would only date black men, therefore having mixed (beautiful!) children. Jen was also Courtney's godmother, so she always saw early on, that color was NO object in our lives. I still like to bring this up to her every so often and I know that because of the way I've taught her will help her to go far in the this world. Prejudice is a HUGE peeve of mine. I can't and never will understand why people only see skin color and not past that??

Moving along..... Picking on people. Courtney went to school with a girl, who a few years ago got picked on terribly. I was always asking Courtney what was said, we had very lengthy conversations about this and she always promised me that it was not her saying bad things. So for her birthday party last year I told her she should invite this girl to make her feel better and feel good. She did invite her, but before she said yes, her dad actually called here to make sure it wasn't a joke. Poor girl. So long story short, Courtney and this girl, who still to this day gets picked on occasionally are still friends. Courtney actually camped out in her pop-up camper for the holiday this weekend.!

So the icing on my cake came yesterday. Courtney and I were at Tops grocery shopping. Courtney asked me for ice cream and I told her no, we have some at home. Later on, walking down and aisle, a mom and her daughters - both about Courtney's age, were walking up the aisle. One of the girls, very cLeary had disabilities, most likely down syndrome. this girl then , as cute as she was walked up to Courtney, smiled and waved to her. I stopped and waited for Courtney's reaction. She waved back and smiled at her! Can I just tell you how proud that makes me?? It may mean nothing to lots of people, but to me it means the world. In the past when I hear about kids making fun of disabled children, it breaks my heart. I have a child with a disability. I've told Courtney many many times, that as Caden gets older, he will probably get made fun of and picked on often. So please do not ever think that it's ok to treat others in that way, since you live with Caden and will soon see it first hand. When I thanked her for being so nice to that girl, She said "MOM"?! geez. I said well you know most people never would have gave her the time of day. She said, well gee mom, I DO have a disabled brother and know how to treat others as well. I was BLOWN away. I guess she really does listen and pay attention to what I've tried for many many years to embed in there huh? After our little converstaion and we were walking away, she turned to me and said " So, does that mean I can get the ice cream now??"
ha!
How could I say No??!!

Yeah Courtney! and Thank you, That was one of the most thoughtful things I have ever seen.