One in the Eye

Today

A rather horrible story this week about a three-year old who was badly beaten up by a two-year old at her nursery. The extent of her injuries makes one wonder what on earth the nursery assistants were doing.

In My Day

Lizzie used to go to a little nursery school in Eastbourne, named "Fledglings". It was a family-run affair where the children had lots of scope to play in the large garden and cook jam tarts in the kitchen.

One day we went to collect Lizzie and the owner told us that another child had attacked her, inflicting some scratches on her face.

This other child, a boy, was known to have some social problems, including an aversion to being hugged or touched. He was also a very beautiful child with big brown eyes, glossy dark hair and a beautiful sun-kissed skin. Liz found him irresistible and decided that she wanted to kiss him. Before anyone could stop her, she'd flung her arms around him. The inevitable panic-driven response occurred and his nails were out.

The difference between this story and that of Katie-Anne, above, is that the teachers were right there, pulling the children apart before real damage could be done.

Although it may have something to do with Lizzie's extreme caution these days about giving kisses to anyone but family.