It got so carried away that at one point I blamed her for lighting
matches in our basement (which I had done). My parents stormed over to her house and we never played again.
I am reminded of this story because we have a child in our life
right now that we tend to blame quickly for anything he is even remotely around. We want to be wise to his foolishness, while not letting our children off the hook for their part in any matter.
So in situations where we are not 100% sure what happened, we let our children know that they are guilty by association. In other words, if they didn’t stand up and stop the foolishness, then they are of some blame.
If you are the parent of the child that is always blamed, don’t
give up. Unfortunately, a reputation like this takes awhile to undo, whether the child deserves it or not.
If the child does tend towards foolishness then teach them what wise choices are. Telling a foolish child that they are good and just
need to stop making foolish choices and make good choices won’t work. These children don’t know what the right choice is.
These children need constant loving guidance. Some children have
a tough time taking wisdom of one situation to the next. Loving guidance may include laying out every scenario imaginable. Whenever correction is needed, be sure to include what the correct response or action would look like. Even if this child says, ”I know” continue playing out correct responses for them, because their actions speak louder than their words.