Posted on 06/01/2005 11:25:00 AM PDT by neverdem
The 9-year-old girl's mother was gone only briefly Monday, running upstairs to the 11th floor to borrow a hair-straightening comb to help give the girl braids before a barbecue downstairs in the courtyard.
The girl was playing with one of her closest friends, with whom she spent so much time that some thought they were related, an 11-year-old named Queen Washington. Everyone called her Queenie. In the 9-year-old's apartment on the seventh floor of the Linden Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, the two girls began to fight over a ball, the police said.
As any parent will tell, even the gentlest child has an occasional tantrum. But the 9-year-old, while bright and inventive, struck some of her neighbors as a different kind, a girl who often showed flashes of nasty, violent anger when she did not get her way.
"As long as things go in her favor, she was a sweet, beautiful young girl," said Kahindà Lannigan, 42, a retired home care worker who lives in the girl's building. "But when the tides were in favor of other children, she'll hit, kick, scratch, scream and spit. She'd hit anyone on the head with a bottle if she was fighting. She'd beat them any way she could."
Still, the adults who knew her said yesterday, no one would imagine her capable of killing.
The police said the 9-year-old stabbed Queenie in the chest with a steak knife. The blade perforated the older girl's heart, killing her as she stumbled out of the apartment and tried to make it to the elevator down the hall, the police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Yeah, that's how I read this article, but while I was there, out of curiosity I tried clicking through to a couple of articles with the "$" beside them. It wouldn't work, but it could have been just my lack of patience.
Believe me, I won't lose any sleep over it. lol!
It sounds like you don't need any input from me, but I have to say it anyway. This is for your husband, not you:
When it comes to kids (and this is your kids), please listen to 'Mama's intuition,' no matter how crazy it may sound. A lot of time Daddy just can't "feel it" like Mama can!
< /nosey ol' biddy > :-)
I didn't think about that one. Good point.
Just be sure and take a shower after you log out. ;-)
I had a boy like this living next door in Sacramento around 1988. He was so bad that--instead of regular school--he had to go to a "FARM SCHOOL" which was meant to teach him to be kind to other creatures.
His mother was in total denial and always belittled anyone who tried to keep things "right" around him.
I'm sure he's in prison or dead by now.
Sounds like this kid could use classes in conflict resolution and alternatives to violence.
/sarcasm
I saw a picture of her on TV yesterday and was shocked that this 9 year old child looked to be about 16 at least. Does anyone here have her picture to post?
My kids:
1st I ask them to "Please..."
2nd I tell them harshly to "..."
3rd...spank!
That ended before the "spanking" evolved past a slap on a little hand because "pavlov" caught on before that.
..the injury was on the left side of my mouth/chin...
..the surgeon was excellent and I only have a tiny scar from the corner of my mouth down to my chinline.
No one notices it now...But I remember her
Strangely enough, my father (who was the nurturing one of my parents)...says he never trusted her.
But mom didn't see it.
That $ is for paying an archival fee for stories over a week old. Copy the title and Use Google, Google News, Jeeves, etc.
Then don't read the story about the 7 year old boy who beat to death his baby half-sister - because he was jealous of all the attention she was getting.
It's all a crap shoot.
The worst of parents can have the best of children and vice versa. Sometimes kids just ain't right (thought I'm sure your will be just fine).
My favorite saying when people ask me why I don't have children? Kitty and Kyle Menendez had children once.
Stick with it.
I have a friend who adopted a kid from Russia.
Kid is world-weary and knowledgable about adult things.
The kid plays the father against the mother, and let me tell you, the mother is losing.
The father doesn't understand that a kid can be bad.
She knows you've got her number.
You should look at her and whisper to your husband.
Another vote of support for your action. I'm afraid it's late in the game to straighten out that 9 year old neighbor kid. I think some people don't realize that often the battle to raise a kid correctly is often won or loss VERY early. By the time the kid is walking the pattern should be set.
Did anyone else happen to hear of this?
Apparently, mabelkitty did.
My first wife's father was a child psychiatrist. His favorite saying was, "Never strike a child except in anger." He insisted that you had to hit the kid while he was still engaged in the behavior, or he wouldn't connect it with getting whacked. He thought, "Wait 'til your father comes home" was the worst possible thing. By the time the spanking comes, the kid doesn't connect it with what he did.
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You must be on a different planet than I was when I was 5+ years old!!!!!!!!!!!
The most fearful words in the English language when I was a kid were:
"Wait 'til your father comes home"
I would spend the rest of the day conjuring up the worst of circumstances.
But hey, that was just me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not get it often, but when I did ..... ouch !
BTW, I still love 'My Dad' with all my heart.
When I was 5 he was 'Daddy'
When I was 10 he was 'Pop'
When I was 14 he was 'The old Man'
When I got out of Marine boot camp he was, and still is, 'My Dad'.
Omronnie (SGT - USMC - Nam '66-'67)
Thank you. I looked for mabelkitty's post and saw their comment. Evidently the 7 year old kicked, pummeled and hit the baby with a 2x4. :(
I would love to know more about that family arrangement.
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