But I'm a good boy!

I was at the playground the other day with the kids & Landon was playing & climbing on a ship. He saw a group of 3 girls playing & he wanted to play with them. I wasn't really paying too much attention until I saw him trying to talk to them and I could tell by their body language that they were NOT going to let him play. At this point, I started paying a little more attention and realized that these girls were being very mean to him! It broke my heart when I heard him say "but...but I'm a good boy!" The girls continued to be quite mean and I just couldn't take it anymore! I walked over and said nicely "Be nice, girls!" The "leader" of the girl pack had quite a 'tude and looked at me very defiantly. So, given the show down, I had to break out the secret weapon: teacher face. You know, the "I see what you are doing and I don't like it" non-verbal stare. They retreated but poor Landon was still standing there all sad because he just wanted to play! I know that I can't always be there and I know that this is just the beginning of situations like this and it breaks my heart! I also know that it is part of growing up & that you can't protect them forever. Elizabeth Stone said: "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. "
She sure knew what she was talking about!