Last year, I had a newish friend with a 9-year-old daughter who, completely unprovoked, kicked me barefoot with her boot. I hadn’t even spoken to her that day.

Last year, I had a newish friend with a 9-year-old daughter who, completely unprovoked, kicked me barefoot with her boot. I hadn’t even spoken to her that day. Her mother saw the whole thing. Afterward, she jumped into justifications. She asked if I was deaf in one ear and maybe her daughter had said something I didn’t hear? I didn't hear anything. She claimed the kick happened only because I didn’t answer. The only thing she said to her daughter, who ran off immediately, was that she’d have to “work on rebuilding trust.” This wasn’t isolated. The girl regularly told anyone who’d listen that she wished I wasn’t around. She constantly hurled rude comments my way. She had a filthy mouth too casually describing adult scenes in front of other adults like it was normal. She was in third grade. Her mother and grandmother called her a “love bug.” She was anything but. That was a good enough reason to end the relationship.