No-one will play with me.

We went back to the park yesterday, the first time since Gabrielle, my youngest, fell down and cut her head open. No, I wasn't paranoid about her hurting herself. Really. I wasn't.

Stop laughing.

It didn't go so well. Normally a visit to the park is the best thing the girls can imagine. It's always a very thrilling treat to be able to go and play. Yesterday, though, after only about 40 minutes, they both became very unhappy.

I think Gabrielle was tired, because her crying and whining had that fussy-because-I-don't-want-fall-asleep quality to it. Arielle, however, had her first experience with serious rejection.

It broke my heart when I realized what was happening. It took me a bit to figure it out. She sat down on the swings and just rocked back and forth, refusing my offer to push her. I hsould have realized then, but it wasn't until she went and sat on the end of the slide, sucking her fingers, that I realized something was wrong.

I pulled her over to a shady spot on the grass and sat her in my lap. "What's wrong, sweetie? You look so sad. Why are you sad?"

It turned out no-one would play with her. I don't know what happened, if it was a real or perceived rejection. It was very real to her, though, and her little heart was just breaking with sorrow.

I was able to help her find a playmate, but the fun had gone out of the whole day for my little sweetheart. She never did perk up and when I finally suggested we head for home she was more than happy to leave. That's the first time I've ever gotten her out of a park without screaming fits.

I'd feel better if I had some idea of how to help her in the future with this sort of problem. To a certain extent this is just part of life. We all need to learn how to deal with the inevitable reality that not everyone we want to be friends with wants to be friends with us. But it has scared me, because I was one of those kids who never had any friends and was the bottom of the pecking order at school. I want to protect my children from what I went through, but, obviously, I don't really grasp how to be an accepted part of the child social circle. I'll need to think it over. The husband never went through that sort of thing as a kid, so maybe he'll know what to do.