How Do You Protect Them?

Monday morning my parents were out of town, so my neighbor and I decided to get our kids together and let them bounce at once of those blow up bounce places.  We had been there a while and I saw Addison walking hand in hand with another little girl... Ok, Miss Social has made a friend I thought to myself.

Not long after that Jadon exited a bouncer and ran over excited, "I made a new friend.  Her name is Ally."  I saw two little girls and said, "Hello Ally."  She didn't really give me much notice and then the two girls ran off.  Jadon didn't follow so I thought that was the end.

Right before we were getting ready to leave I saw Jadon sitting across the room on the edge of a bouncer crying.  I knew he wasn't hurt or he would be seeking me out.  I was confused because... he always seeks me out when crying.  I picked him up and asked what was wrong...

"Nobody likes me."  sobbing tears..
"Baby, why do you say that""
"The girl in the green shirt (Ally's friend) said her name isn't Ally and told me to go away.  Nobody likes me."

It's hard to convey in text how upset he was and how my heart was breaking for him.  I struggled for what to say.  He is the most amazingly sweet and loving little boy on the planet and he was crushed.  Do I bad mouth the girl to make him feel better?  Do I tell him that's life and not everyone will like him?  Do I just tell him how special he is?  How do I fix this??????

My Mom always said, "It's so hard for a mother to tell her child how wonderful he/she is when the rest of the world is telling them something different."

Someone was telling Jadon he wasn't ok... how do I convince him that isn't true???

In the end, I held him and told him about all the people who do like him... his brother and sisters, the neighbors who came to play with us, all his friends from school, his old neighbors, etc.

Kids can be so mean and cruel.  How do you convince kids they just have to survive childhood and things will get easier?  How do you convince them they are wonderful when the world is telling them otherwise?

This isn't the 1st time someone has been mean.  Kaylee ran into some mean girls at a party one time and Addison has been turned away when trying to make friends before and every time it just breaks my heart.

How do you protect them???  How do you build their self-esteem??  How do you convince them the world is wrong because THEY ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING KIDS and they are loved beyond words or comprehension.