First of all, why is it that bad things always happen when the hubby is away? Shane is out of town for 3 days for work, so of course I just had to come down with a nasty cold/sinus congestion/asthma flare-up. And of course I'm sure the boys will come down with the same thing any minute now...because they always do.
But unfortunately that's not really the topic of this post. Today Brody jumped into the car after school and was visibly upset about something. He said, "Today was the worst day ever". Now this isn't the first time he has come home from school saying this. Usually it involves one of his classmates unexpectedly bringing in a treat for the entire class that he couldn't have or he often feels lonely because his friends don't want to sit with him at the Peanut-Free table in the cafeteria. So I braced myself and asked why he felt this way today. Turns out his friend "disinvited" Brody from his birthday party this weekend! As in a party 3 days from now which Brody has been looking forward to for several weeks! A party that the mother had told me about weeks ago and said she would call me at some point this week to go over the whole food allergy aspect. My guess/suspicion/gut feeling is that she decided it would just be much easier to not have Brody there rather than try to accommodate him. Which if she would have called me, I simply would have gave her a crash course in allergic reactions, what symptoms to watch out for, and how to use an EpiPen just in case. Then I would have provided Brody with his own snacks/cupcake anyway. How difficult would that have been?
What I really don't understand is how any mother can possibly think that uninviting a child to a party wouldn't hurt him emotionally? Especially Brody. The fact of the matter is that Brody never gets invited to birthday parties for his classmates. EVER. This was honestly the first time he got an invitation and it was also going to be the first time I let him stay at a friend's house by himself (without me hovering) for a couple of hours. He was very excited by this prospect and wants so badly to be more independent...no matter how hard it is for me to let go and trust others with his life.
So Brody cried because he feels his so-called friend doesn't want him at his party and all he desperately wants is to feel included. Instead, time after time he's excluded and left to feel very hurt and alone. I cried because my heart was breaking for him and also because I know this won't be the last time something like this happens. Josh is angry about the whole situation and thinks I should "just call the friend's mother and yell at her". Well, the thought certainly crossed my mind, but of course that's not the correct way to deal with this. Although I'm not entirely sure what the correct way to handle this is other than to keep hugging Brody and reassuring him that it's okay to be upset/hurt/mad/sad and that tomorrow will be a better day. I hope! (Gee, I seem to say that quite often.)
