Should I go over and extend the olive branch? As I don't like to feel weird or have negative feelings; I just
know how to handle this and I don't I like my kids having negative feelings. My neighbors and our family at one time got along well. My two kids played with their youngest child. They played well and the mother came to me as she wasn't sure which school to send her kid. I told her about the wonderful kindergarten teacher I had my daughter assigned to and she was able to get her son in that teacher's room. Her son had some severe behaviorial problems and he would bite my daughter on the back and on the arm and the bite left a scar. I had to take her to the doctor. He hit her, bruised her face and she kept being his friend because she didn't have any other friends at the time. My husband went over and told the parents the first time the biting happened. The mother acted like she didn't believe him; I went over after the second biting incident and she still didn't believe me; And she actually put me out of her house when I went over as she said, "you believe your daughter and I'll believe my son" and the school doesn't believe you so I was livid as I have never encountered such apathy. So I wrote the school a letter as they had been notified of each incident as the incidents always happened in the lunchroom or on the playground. The school tightened their disciplinary codes and they keep my kid away from the neighbor's little boy. After writing this I feel stupid for just wanting to be cordial again as I don't want to talk to them but a small part of me feels really sad for them. I just hate having the negative vibe and my son heard me make a comment about the neighbor as she was holding up traffic (she is not a great driver), anyway he heard me say she is making us late and he said you act like you hate her and this made me even more aware of the tension and the toll it was taking on our families. Our kids don't speak to them and they don't speak to us. I don't want to be friends I just want to be cordial because we live next door to the people and we go to the same school each day...I hate bad feelings. But I don't want my kids to feel like they should stay in bad relationships. What do I do?
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