On Saturday, we had a neighborhood block party and Graham finally learned to ride without the trainers! He was having a great time riding in the street and polishing his ability to start off on the bike. He was so pleased with himself!

Unfortunately, he was trying to connect with some slightly younger boys who were rebuffing his advances. Of course, he didn't notice and kept riding near them trying to join them. Eventually, they started riding their scooters and skateboards right in front of him, cutting him off and making him stop suddenly in a kind of a game of 'chicken'.

I'm surprised at how angry I got and how quickly it flared up. I walked right over and gave them a piece of my mind about what jerks they were being. They tried to deny any wrong doing at first, but eventually were a bit sheepish about it. John was a bit more nonchalant about it, saying that Graham needed to learn to deal with that sort of thing, but I just saw red and acted. I was shaking, I was so mad.

In any case, the behavior stopped and although they didn't welcome Graham to join them, at least they weren't taunting him any longer. Graham tried to defend them, saying that I was too hard on them, that they were just 5th graders, but the little twirps knew exactly what they were doing and Graham was a bit oblivious about it.

This just activates all my fears for next year in middle school when I can't protect him from other kids messing with him. My hope is that some of the kids who know him will stick up for him some. One kid has already declared that 'if anyone messes with Graham, they have to mess with me'. I'm glad he's got supporters, but I worry all the same.