I don't usually support law suits. The only ones are where there is obvious gross negligence. I learned of a situation today and it makes me so upset that I want to sue this teacher on behalf of a little boy.

Here's the unbelievable story. A five year old boy was "voted out" of his kindergarten class after each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about him. After he was asked to leave the classroom, he went and sat in the nurses office for the rest of the day.

This is so wrong on so many levels and it makes me so mad - and sad. What is crazy about the whole thing is that a teacher instigated this. What in the world was she thinking!? This little boy is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome, which is a highly functioning form of autism. But whether this student was challenged in some way or not, why would you have some kind of process where you vote a fellow student out of the classroom?

Have we not learned anything from school shootings, such as Columbine, or from best selling books explaining how bullying affects a child? Don't teachers see these affects on a daily basis and therefore have a deeper compassion for the plight of students? I just don't get this teacher. What does she think she's teaching the other kids in her classroom? That it's okay to ostercize someone who you don't like, who looks or acts differently than you?

And then what was the school thinking letting this child sit in the nurse's office the rest of the day? It breaks my heart to think what was going through this boy's mind as he sat all by himself for any period of time. I keep thinking I'll hear that it was just some sort of game that went terribly wrong, but from everything I've read, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Evidently, the mother filed a complaint but the state attorney's office concluded that the matter didn't meet the criteria for emotional child abuse and therefore no criminal charges were filed. I don't get that either. What was done to this innocent little boy constitutes emotional abuse in my book. The mother is considering suing and I hope she does. I think the teacher and the school need to be held accountable for what they did.

And I pray for this little boy. May he come to know compassion, understanding, tolerance, acceptance, and support. If a student can't get these things in a kindergarten class, we as a society are in trouble - big trouble.

A few weeks ago, a blogging friend posted this quote (thanks Melody):

"Each moment is a place you've never been." ~Mark Strand

I've been thinking about those words a lot ever since I read them. I've used them as inspiration to get out and experience life and I've used them as a reminder that there's a lot of places I have yet to visit. Life is a sequence of moments, and sometimes timing is everything.

Last Saturday, my family went up into the mountains, into Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a cold, dreary day, but I love the mountains and knew I would enjoy being up there even if we had to stay in the car the whole day (and we pretty well did).

The highlight of the day was seeing so many elk. Most of them a good distance away. We came across a large herd and I (literally) jumped out of the car to try to get some good pictures. As I snapped away, the herd started to move and I ran in the same direction in an effort to get even closer and even better photos. It was a thrill to see this huge herd run across the road into a different spot. There was one bull that bugled and snorted his communication to his harem as he made sure they all stayed together and ended up where he wanted them.

After I had taken all the pictures I could, I hopped back into the car and we traveled further down the road. We eventually turned around and went back the same way we came. As we passed by the place where the herd had passed through, there was no sign of the spectacular event we had just witnessed. Cars were driving through without a clue. I couldn't help but think how timing can mean the difference in seeing something special and not seeing anything at all. The saying, "timing is everything" never rang more true.

I feel blessed to have been at the right place at the right time, and to experience a moment as a place I had never been to before.