It was just Luke and I since the other boys were at school. There were a handful of other kids Luke's age so it worked out pretty well. This one boy was running around yelling "booby trap!" and a girl was following right behind him repeating the phrase, "booby crap!" It was hilarious.
Luke is such a people pleaser and just wants to be friends with every kid he meets. Except this one particular boy. The kid had to be just 2 years old, but man was he aggressive. He had spiked hair and wore red chucks - super cute but ornery.
It first started when bully boy and his sister pointed at Luke, called him an alien, and screamed and ran away from him. I was a little irritated at the alien comment but figured they were just playing an innocent game of tag and Luke was "it" whether he liked it or not. Luke continued to play by himself while being cautious yet curious about the other kids.
Bully boy runs up to Luke as he is trying to make his way to the slide and grabs on to the back of his shirt. All the while his mom is deep in conversation with her friend and isn't even paying attention. I could tell Luke was trying not to get upset, but he looked like he could burst into tears at any moment. Luke got away from bully boy and came over to me. I told him to try and stay away from those kids and play on something else.
So he happily goes over to the spider climbing contraption which no one else was on. And wouldn't you know it, bully boy goes right over to him and starts pulling on his leg as Luke is trying to climb.
I was PISSED!
I marched over to the kid, got down on his level and firmly told him not to touch my child again. I think I may have scared him off, but at least he got the message and finally left Luke alone. I could care less what him mom thought if she even witnessed the encounter which I highly doubt.
I could see the hurt in my sweet little Luke's eyes as he told me, "That boy is not my friend."
I saw a man walking his dog nearby and asked Luke if he wanted to go see the dog in an attempt to try and boost his hurt feelings . Of course that made him happy. The dog was very sweet and the man reminded me of my dad. That was until he started talking about his dog's rectum surgery. Oh look at the time, we must get going. TMI!
Hopefully our next park adventure will not involve bullies or dog butt conversation.
Oh boy!!! That's one of my hot issues.
ReplyDeleteI hate when parents are off into themselves so much and NOT paying attention to their kids! Esp in such a public place! Enjoy yourself, but be attentive.
Good for you for standing up for your little guy. I'm sure he was hurt.
Mine experienced the same thing last summer. Kids 4 years older than him were pointing at him and teasing him, calling him a slow poke (he was 3!). The mother didn't move her fat booty off the bench, so I went over there & yelled up to them "do NOT call my child any names again. Do you hear me?!" I told my son loudly that we'd find NICE kids to play with who have some manners. I was pissed.
I hope you have better days at the park soon!