It happened... again.

Today we went to Nixon Park, if you haven't been and you are in the Milwaukee area of visiting, I highly suggest it! It's awesome! There is a great playground with a place for bigger kids and a set for smaller kids, there's a spider web and a merry go round. Do those things make anyone else want to vomit? There's also a great splash pad that's open Memorial Day to Labor Day from 10am-7pm. It's a perfect place for all three kids to burn a ton of energy. Bella, in particular, has been begging to go! With only a few weeks left of summer and me off work for a couple of weeks (yay teacher schedule!) we have to live it up!

All parents know that the very first thing kids ask for when you get anywhere is food. Like seriously, breakfast 1, 2 or 3 didn't fill you up? Oh and the two snacks before we left didn't either? So we packed lunches AND snacks to take along.

I sat on the side and let the kids do their thing. Bella is all about making new friends so she's the first to leave my side. She played with a group of girls first. It always surprises me to see her playing with girls her age, she is much more of a girl that plays with boys. She says boys have less drama... I tend to agree most of the time. Her two best buds at school are boys. I watched from afar as all three kids explored and did their own thing. I noticed that her hand started to become a topic of conversation. Ugh, seriously, can't she just be her and not be defined by her difference. None of us are defined by our differences, like eye color or hair color...

She played with them and then ventured off to an older girl. She told me later, the "new" friend was 10. She's often drawn to older girls because they ask about her hand and then move along. Girls her age that aren't around her frequently tend to continue to ask questions, then more questions, then more... it's irritating to her and to me. Let it go already!

I watched as one girl pointed and loudly said "HEY SHE DOESN'T HAVE A HAND". Bella was too busy playing with the 10 year old girl to notice. The teacher from Kindercare swooped in and talked to the girls for a few minutes. The girls then went back to playing without saying a thing further about her hand. I watched as it all happened and stayed safely planted on my towel at the edge of the spray ground.

Before they left, I approached the teacher. I thanked her for "handling the situation". She said "Oh of course, that behavior is not ok at all. I mean I know they are curious but that's not ok. Of course I would take care of it, they are my responsibility." I thanked her again for getting the situation resolved quickly and quietly. I told her she did a nice job observing and watching all of the kids interact. She thanked me for pointing it out.

Bella and I didn't talk about it any more. I figure if she wants to talk about it, she knows I'm always willing. She's pretty open with me about things that bother her or make her feel good. She did say "Oh man, my new friend was leaving, that's a bummer". Agreed kiddo. You make friends every where you go!