From bad to worse...

Things just went downhill from there...

We went to our favorite playground because the weather turned sunny and beautiful. All was well until school got out. This groups of boys decided to pick on Ben and Nik. At one point one of the boys pushed Ben off of something and he fell hard. Another boy was in Nik's face teasing him. At another point they circled my boys telling them unkind things. Finally Ben was on the verge of tears and Nik was on the verge of punching one of the boys in the face. Tempting as it was to let the boy have it... I stepped in and we walked home. In tears.

In Atlanta no parent would ever stand by while their kids ganged up on 2 kids who were obviously getting upset. Even when I said something to one of the boys the parents did nothing. And they were sitting right there watching so they clearly saw and heard everything.

I have never seen my kids go to a playground and not meet playmates. And I have never seen them ganged up on like that. It was straight out of Harry Potter... and not the good parts. The Dursley parts.

The kids and I need to find a place to live so we can head off and have some fun adventures because right now we just all want to go back home.

6 comments:

Tina in CT said...

Boy, what happened doesn't speak well for Aussie kids and parents with their behavior. I sure hope it was just a bad experience and not the norm.

I can imagine how discouraged you are.

Anonymous said...

perhaps the playground was outside of a school for juvenile delinquents

L

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry for you and boys.
Hold on, keep your hopes up.
They must be some cultural differences you will have to adjust to.Does not sound like this particular attitude is easy to adjust too.
Love you all.
Olga

Joe Ganci said...

Oh, no, what a terrible couple of experiences you've had! First with the playground bullies and then getting lost! I'm so sorry, Katya, but things are going to get better! You'll see!

MoscowMom said...

That's HORRIBLE! I'm so sorry that happened!! It can't be indicative of all parents/kids there, though... Try a different park next time. How rough on all of you, though. Is Ian at least enjoying work?

Elle said...

let's cross our fingers that those rough riders all ran together, and it was just a bad batch of playground bullies. i'm so sorry, love! chin up ;)