September 28, 2015 - 20:17
When I was in elementary school, I had a friend who was a couple years younger than me. We would play at either my house or hers. Sometimes we swam in her pool or played with her toys inside or at my house on my swing set and in my yard. When we were alone, we played well together. She and I would sometimes even play in solitude, but together, usually when we did crafts or built fairy houses. However, I started to notice she would not be as agreeable when we played at her house or her mom was chatting with my mom at ours. She would create situations where I was the wrongdoer and she was the victim. She would make small disagreements into larger inequalities, where I had done something to offend her even if I had just pointed out a different view on the play situation. The worst part was that she would tattle. She would make it obvious to her mom and mine that I had caused her distress, then I would be questioned about it. I was usually innocent but I became upset about this predicament that she would put me in. After she had gone home, my mom and I talked about this, and we came to the conclusion that this girl was trying to get attention from her mother because her infant sister, who had just been adopted, had taken up all of the mother's energy and time. It was easier for her to ruin our otherwise pleasant playdates in order to be the center of attention, rather than figuring out a way to spend more time with her mother and without her sister interrupting it. However, there was no way to make unfair play situation better because this girl's mother would always take her side and given into her daughter's childish attempt to be noticed than believe that she and I may both been at fault.