Managing disappointments

Ariel was at an indoor playground last evening. There were 4 older girls at the playground.

Ariel was totally excited about being in the playground. She loves to observe how the older kids play nowadays. After about 10 mins, she said "Hi" to one of the girls in the group. The girl said, "Hi" back, and soon after, they were playing together.

The oldest girl of the group was not happy that her sister had gone to join Ariel in play. Mommy heard her say, "Fine!! You don't want to play with us.. let's don't care about her." The girl who had been playing with Ariel then went back to join the group. Ariel continued playing on her own and observing the girls from time to time.

A while later, the girls started throwing balls through a hole. Ariel wanted to join in and asked, "Can I try too?" The oldest girl snapped, "We don't want to play with you!" Ariel backed off. Mommy, sitting at the side observing, was quite tempted to interfere, but decided to hold back to see how Ariel deals with the situation. Ariel simple smiled and went back to play on her own, still happy as nothing had happened.

A while later, one of the girls had to leave and there were 3 girls left. Ariel tried to join them again and this time round, they seem to let her. After the session, mommy asked Ariel, "Did you had fun?" She happily replied, "YES!!" Mommy is really proud of Ariel.

In today's world, admit it or not, peer pressure is part and parcel of growing up and it's evident even at preschool level. While positive peer pressure is great, negative peer pressure can be destructive. Teenagers, especially are very prone to peer pressure. In serious cases, it can even lead to depression among many teens today.

Being part of a Christian household, I feel that it's a great necessity to teach the children that regardless of how others look at them, or what others say about them, they need to feel great about themselves, and secure about who they are. This has a lot to do with a high self-esteem, and the building of self-esteem really starts now! Only then would we be able to fight against the temptations of the world. People can say the meanest things to us, as long as we know God loves us and we love ourselves, that is enough. And it's only then can we learn to love others.

Today, I am so relieved that the girls' comments had not affected Ariel a single bit. Will be praying that she stays that way even as she grows :) .