Playground woes

Friday evening we went to Lowe's and then took the kids to the park to play on the playground. When we arrived there was another mom there with a little boy E's age. They started playing together immediately, Mr N chose to stay near Mommy & Daddy. I kept encouraging Mr N to join with E and the little boy, but he wouldn't play with them.

A while later another mom showed up with a 6 y/o girl and a baby, the baby stayed with mom, the little girl joined E and the little  boy. I kept encouraging Mr N to join the other kids, and finally he did. I was so proud of him! He happily followed them all over the playground until the 6 y/o girl instructed E and the other little boy to hide from Mr N. They hid under the playground and I helped Mr N find them and told the kids to let Mr N play with them. The little girl told E and the little boy to run from Mr N. I told E that she needed to play with her brother, she said "but mommy, she told me to run from him". 

I realized how easy it is for older kids to bully and to get other kids to join them. This girl who had never met E or the little boy had been the leader in their playing, she was the oldest and they listened to her. The other little boy's mom told him to include Mr N, too.

After telling the kids several more times to include Mr N, I lost it. I just broke down in tears. What possesses a 6 y/o to pick on a 2 y/o? Why did she chose to target him? We grabbed the kids and left, they were not so happy with our sudden departure. After all the stress of the day, seeing my baby boy being picked on just pushed me over the edge. I had held myself together all day, but seeing him treated like that just hurt so bad. Will this be his life? Will he always endure being picked on? 

The little girl's name was Nevaeh, she'll face struggles of her own the rest of her life.