One of the things that our 4 year old has been struggling with is people who are mean sometimes and nice sometimes. He understands that there are mean people, and he understands that there are nice people. Unfortunately, some of his “friends” at school are mean as often as they are nice.

It really bothers him.

We’ve had lots of talks about people who are mean sometimes just because they don’t know any better, or because they’re feeling grumpy. I’ve really tried to give these other kids every chance. However, I’ve kind of come to the assumption that they’re simply mean kids. I mean I know that it’s important to realize that they’re just kids and they’re going through phases, but it’s tough to watch your child get hurt like that over and over again.

Lately, one of the big topics of conversation for the little guy has been his birthday party. It’s still over two months away, but he’s really excited about it.

The other day at dinner, he asked me “Daddy, is it okay if I invite people who are mean sometimes?”

His momma and I looked at each other. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well,” he said. “They’re nice to me sometimes, just not all the time. But I think I should still invite them to my party.”

“Oh yeah?” His momma asked softly.

“Yeah,” he said, looking down at his plate. “I think that would be okay. Do you think that would be okay?”

I hate mean people.