Frustrating (Play) Times
Pinkxi loves going to school but recently she’s been rather reluctant to talk about her playtime to BBM. After much prodding by BBM, she recounts the following rather ‘frustrating’ experiences with her friends during playtime.
1. Her group of critter friends sometimes run off to play without waiting for her. When she reaches the playground, she cannot find the group and has to play alone.
2. One of her critter friends is very insistent on playing with Pinkxi. Pinkxi often gets ‘pulled away’ while she is playing with her other friends. Pinkxi isn’t sure why her repeated ‘No’s didn’t work (cos BBM tells her that she should always respect a ‘No’ when others tell her so) and feels frustrated cos she had to go along with this critter.
3. Pinkxi is confused why another critter friend will sometimes exclude her from playing with their usual group of friends. She isn’t sure why she gets to play with them yesterday but not today. Pinkxi feels further frustrated when this critter insisted to other friends in the group that she should be excluded….and they left her to play on her own at the playground.
BBM likes to think that she does have friends whom she plays with in school and takes consolation that Pinkxi is not adversely affected by the incidents yet. Perhaps children being children, do not necessarily mean what they say all the time.
But playtime in school is more than just that. Pinkxi certainly should not get the wrong idea that, despite her protests, she is and will be totally helpless whenever a difficult situation or a more dominant force arises. BBM is concerned about Pinkxi being purposely ‘left out’ by an individual whom she regards as a friend and how other friends were influenced by this critter.
BBM can only assure her that whatever she is doing is right and that it was not her fault that her friends are not playing with her. Self-confidence and self-esteem is such a fragile thing in lil critters. BBM certainly hopes that the current situations do not mature into something darker. Fingers crossed.
>> Back to Growing Up with Pinkxi.