Life Lesson for Little Man

Little Man is growing up and playing with peers and having to learn some tough life lessons; like he won't always be invited on every playdate and outing. The other day he came running out of his class jumping and excited asking me if we could go to the park with I, R and S from his class. I didn't know what he was talking about and had to field these questions as I herded my crew outside. I asked R's mom if she knew was Little Man was talking about and she said that we were welcome to join them and that a few of them were going to a nearby park for playing and a picnic. Little Man was jumping out of his pants excited about going because the kids had been talking about it at school and I had to be the bad guy and explain that I didn't have a picnic lunch packed like the other moms did and that Peanut and Sweet Pea were going to need naps and I didn't plan accordingly for a picnic playdate with his friends. The poor boy literally cried all the way home from school but it did give me a great chance to talk to him about a couple of life lessons. We talked about how it felt to not be included and how it made him sad and the best thing to do is to make sure he doesn't make other people feel that way. We also talked about the fact that we don't always get to do the things we want to do and sometimes we just have to say "oh well" and move on. I made up for it by having a carpet picnic in the living room and letting him watch a tv show while eating which is a huge treat to him. In the grand scheme of things it was just a blip on his radar but it was a prelude of things to come as we all know, life isn't fair and we all have good days and bad days. I struggle with letting my kids have bad days because I want to protect them from anything that might make them sad but at the same time I know there will be a ton of things I can't protect them from. All I can hope for is that they come to me and share with me so that I can make a carpet picnic for them with some gummy penguins for dessert to make it all better!