My five year old started school this year. We put him in the local preschool so he'd get to know people outside of the university child care facility. He had a great year last year and went into his first year knowing some faces.
The first while has been fine. He's enjoyed the company of others and taken part in sport outside of school. Recently though I've noticed that some of his friends have been invited to parties when he hasn't. Not to worry, I thought. This is part of childhood and he won't have some of those kids at his birthday in a couple of months.
Today, though, he's come home very sad. Not just looking out of sorts but saying "I had a bad day today". Turns out one of the boys has been pushing him around, telling my son he can't play with that group of friends, and the group spent play times running away from him. I feel so desperately sad and just can't believe that five and six year olds can be so nasty.
So we spent some quiet time tonight talking about how there are other people to play with, that he's a kind person that lots of people like spending time with and not to worry too much. But if I believed all of that would make a difference to the way he feels then why am i so upset?
I've never believed in protecting my kids in layers of cotton wool. When my son asked about death, we discussed it openly even though he wasn't quite four. Maybe being too honest isn't so good, because it leaves feelings open to be hurt. I guess is was inevitable that he would be uber-nerdy like me and Academic Spouse. I just hope he develops his Dad's resilience to this sort of crap.
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