Question
My 9 yo daughter came home upset today because of a situation her friend "Mindy" told her about another neighborhood child "Mary". I have sent in questions/concerns about this child previously. In a nutshell, Mary, now 12, is a bully, and has been physically aggressive with both my kids and others in the neighborhood. Her parents are in denial/making excuses. Mindy told my daughter that when she was playing with Mary today, a neighbor's pet cat was with them, rubbing against them and purring, as cats do. Mary decided this was annoying, poured a pitcher of water on the cat, hit it with a (wiffle) bat, and said she would "put it out of its misery". Mindy asked my daughter to ask me to tell Mary's mother about it. I told her that Mindy needs to tell her mother this story, and her mother will address it. I plan to ask Mindy's mother if her daughter told her about the incident. Is there anything else I should do? Or is it not my place to get involved since neither I nor my daughter actually saw this happen (I don't think for a minute that Mindy is making this up). My husband thinks this is no big deal and I should leave it alone, but I disagree. I have seen Mary do mean things to her own dog (box it's ears, pull it's legs) and have told her to stop, but I think this is an escalation that shouldn't be ignored.
