Mean Boys :(

We had another rough morning at the park.  :(

There were a lot of kids playing there already when we arrived...mostly boys this time.  As soon as the boys left the teeter-totter, Alegria went to it to play on it.  The boys came back.  There were 4 of them.  They sat on the other seats...well, one of them stood in the middle portion.

At first I was concerned that they would tell Alegria to leave, but they didn't, so I was happy. Alegria looked happy too:

It seemed that the boys might be nicer than the girl from the other day and be cool about Alegria playing with them.

A short while later, though, the boys started playing "Find the Treasure," and Alegria was so excited to play along! However; the boy that seemed

to be the oldest and "leader" of the group told her that she couldn't play...that girls weren't allowed to find the treasure. There was another little girl standing near Alegria when he said this, I was was soothed to know that she wasn't the only one that was being left out and hoped that maybe she and the little girl would play together instead. But Alegria went to play on her own.

In the meantime, Odette was having fun just playing peek-a-boo with me on the playset:

Shortly after the incident with the boys, I noticed that Alegria had wandered again to where the boys were. They were all digging in the dirt and I thought, "Ah...finally a game Alegria loves to play...playing in the dirt! I'm sure the boys will be cool to let her play along with them since they all share that common interest!"

Unfortunately, at about the time I was going to snap a picture of the group, I noticed Alegria start moving away from the boys and towards the playground barrier that separated the playground from an open field. Alegria threw the wood chips she'd collected into the grass and I thought maybe they were all playing a game where they threw the wood chips out there...but then I saw her start walking further away from the boys and therefore me...shw was walking out into the big open field. I could tell by the hunch of her shoulders that all wasn't right and started going towards her.

And then it happened. The boys had come to where she was and started throwing wood chips at her! I was so upset at this and moreso that the mothers of these boys were not doing anything!!! As I was getting closer, I noticed that the mother of the eldest boy finally did come up to him and told him not to do that. She did NOT, however, tell him to apologize and I was appalled!

I called to Alegria to come back. A few moments passed and she finally turned back towards me and as she waslked back to me said, "I'm just sad, Mom. The boys just made me sad. They don't want to play with me."

Oh, my heart broke to see her that way! 

I had never been in a situation like that and had no idea what to do. Should I tell the boys something? Should I tell their mothers something (though I didn't know who all the mothers were)?

I instead just comforted Alegria. 

As we were moving away from the boys, one of the younger ones, about Alegria's age, called her stupid and said that girls were stupid. At that point, I finally said something and told him not to call her stupid and that girls were not stupid. I don't know what else I should have done. I had no idea who his mother was.

When we got home, I told Cameron through my tears what had happened and he talked to Alegria. She had remembered everything that had happened and was so sad as she again told Cameron that the boys didn't want to play with her. Cameron then told her what I had told her before at the park, that even though others are sometimes mean to us, that we still have to remember to be like Jesus and be nice to everyone. Then he grabbed a handful of coins, stuck them in a black velvet bag, and we went to the park to find some treasure of our own!

As we made our way to the park, Cameron again spoke to Alegria about what we had talked about earlier and you could tell that she was still sad about the whole incident:

Odette, I believe, was oblivious to it all:

On our way to the park, we saw a family that is in the same ward (church congregation) as we are. Cameron introduced us and we made new friends, the Parks: Colby, Heather, Ethan, and Ryan. We found out that their little boys are about the same ages as Alegria and Odette. I invited Heather to join us on our morning walks with her boys and she said she'd love to, so that's exciting! It will be awesome to estblish a friendship for myself as well as for the girls...and not only that, they live just a couple of blocks away! :)

We said our goodbyes and the girls and Cameron and I had a nice time (though short because it was really too hot!) at the park.

On the walk back home, Cameron did some lunges with Odette on his shoulders...OUCH!

When we got home, we hopped in the car and went to Baskin Robbins and had some ice cream!  YUMMY!!!

Using a spoon:

Using her hand: 

Eating all of that ice cream made Alegria cold! 

After Baskin Robbins, we stopped at Staples to pick up our computer. I was so happy to finally have it back and to not have to rely on Cameron's laptop anymore! It turns out the power source was dead and so the technician ordered a new part, installed it, and even did a tune-up on our computer. 

On the way home, Odette finally succeeded in putting her socks on all by herself! 

Let's hope one day she learns how to put sunglasses on the right way! Haha! :) 

Back home, the girls could not get enough of petting Isis: 

What a day. I sure hope we don't have many more like this...but I know that this is just the beginning. Alegria and Odette are still very young and I know I won't be there every single day of their lives. I'll just have to teach my girls to be strong and to be kind, and to know that Jesus will always be on their side and to turn to Him when life is hard.

I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and for the love that They have for us and for the strength that They give us. I'm also thankful for my wonderful husband and for the wisdom he shows when I feel I lack it. I'm thankful as well, for my two beautiful little girls and the sweet children that they are. All of these things and more make my life amazing.

We had a great day, in spite of the rough beginning.

Good night everyone. :)