Playmates : 23rd August 2006

I was really close to tears today as I watched Mich try to play some of the kids in the neighbourhood. We went to a play ground near by and Mich was all too glad to join in with the other kids, unfortunately for him the first thing that catches his attention is gadgets, bicycles, skates and the like. There was this one kid who immediatly picked his bike and began to ride ofcourse that wasnt his original plan, so Mich follows him for abit and finally gets the vibes that he is not welcome. He runs off to find some boys playing freezby and even there some mean little kid screams at him saying "go away" you should have seen Mich's expression, he moved back and then looked at me with the expression of "what did I do wrong" that got to me. Anyway I told him to run along and play with the slides and when I got a good chance I told the boy to stop being mean. Most of the kids are older than Mich, they should be ranging between the ages of four to eight years but because Mich is kind of big for his age and all small people are playmates he gets the heat. This is when I realise more and more the importance of being there for children, encouraging them, and soothing them when they get bruised whether physically or emotionally.
I told him that the little kids were not very friendly and that he should not mind them, so he went to play with the other fun things. What was strange was that after a while the same little boys came around to him, not exactly playing with him but wanting to keep his company, I was wondering if this was some kind of initiation thing. By this time he had forgotten about them and just went on playing. Its great to be a child, I think if I was treated that way I would have headed home as fast as I could and sulked the whole evening.
Since the boys were older than him they were climbing the fence and Mich was there telling them " dont do that you will fall".

I'm yet to make a conclusion on this but I noticed that "Americans of foreign origin" in this case the kids were chinese are more defensive as opposed to the Americans. I mean I have been out when Mich is playing with what I would call American kids and they somehow hit it off well and usually the parents come round or just say hello or ask how old Mich is. I guess its survival for the fittest, just makes me realise the need to continue praying over Mich and teaching him bible values because quite frankly its scary the kind of influence that comes from other kids. I dont want him to be mean and bully but then again how do you protect a child from life??