Mama Bear

Since this is a blog for recording memories of my boys, I better put the bad with the good. This one brought the Mama Bear out in me and broke my heart.

Yesterday was a church dinner activity. I decided to make a trifle cake and James was so excited I was making a treat for church! To make sure he realized this was a church party, we told him that we were eating dinner, treats, and there were games for him there. Games?? He was so excited to go! It was so cute how much he and Gavin wanted to get out the door. Once we were there, we got in line to get our food. James got his hot dog and scarfed it down- was so proud of him for not getting distracted. He promptly wanted some of the cake I made- good choice, buddy. After he was done with that, he knew it was time for GAMES! 

James first tried to join in a game where you throw a ball and it splashed a water balloon on someone's head. Seeing as how balls were flying and James, Gavin, and Jack don't do well with lines and flying balls, we found a more age-appropriate game. It was right by the bubbles, so Gavin and Jack went promptly over there. The game James wanted, however, was a race game. They had a tube of water on one side and at the end there was an empty tube. In the tube of water were sponge balls- you soaked up the water, ran to the empty tube, wrung the water out of the sponge ball, and ran back for the next person to run over. Pretty simple. Well, for James, he wouldn't really listen to me about what he was supposed to be doing. He kind of got it. I was trying to not be a hovering mom and walked over to the bubbles to watch from a distance, sure he would catch on. 

Brad and I were talking by the bubbles (and keeping bubble sticks out of Jack's mouth- because that is obviously how you blow bubbles) when we both looked to where James was playing. James had tried to get a sponge ball- I'm not sure if he had cut in line, or if there wasn't any for him, but another little boy was full on yelling at him and making very angry gestures at James. A little girl, one of James' friends, was watching the little boy, and started yelling and gesturing meanly to James as well. James was cowering back, baffled as to why his peers were being so angry and mean. James has such a sweet and sensitive spirit- he was so confused. They scared him so much, he ran over to the nearest (skinny) tree and tried to hide behind it. Upon seeing this, Brad yelled out, "Seriously?!?!". I walked over to James, opening my arms up to my confused little boy. Once in my arms, he started trembling and sobbing. He was so hurt and scared inside. It broke my heart. I wanted nothing more than to go over to that little boy and tell him it was not okay to talk to others that way, but I just couldn't. I was barely holding it together. My emotions were already on high from other things that day, that it was all I could do to hold my James, gather our stuff, and walk as fast as possible to our car. My heart hurt so much for him. Brad brought the other two behind us, both heart broken in their own way that we had to leave while they were having fun. Since a trip to Target was already planned, we told them we would go buy some sidewalk chalk and bubbles of our own and go have fun at home. They also got extra time in the toy aisles :)

This was our first experience with blatant meanness. I don't blame the kid- he's learning his emotions and it's hard to convey what you're feeling in the proper way all the time. It was still so hard to watch. What got me the most was the parents standing right there and doing nothing. I am not one to just watch a kid be mean to another kid- especially when you are in a situation where you know the kids involved and it's not some stranger's problem. There was only one leader there and she did the best she could, but she was juggling the whole thing by herself. I know there will be more and worse situations like this. I just hate that it has to happen. I hate that the world is so ugly and mean and I can't protect my children forever. They need to learn that there are mean people out there- but that doesn't mean they have to be. I was so proud of James- he was sad, he cried, and he bounced back. I love the resilience of kids and I hope we can protect and educate him the best we can.