Snub

Yesterday, in the library, my daughter took a shine to a 10-year-old boy who was picking out books. She toddled up to him (yes, she walks now!) and tried to catch his eye, giving him a winsome smile. He walked away, so she followed him. I went after her and found him crouched down pulling out another book from a low shelf, while she watched him. She was grinning - she likes kids, even big kids. I smiled at him too, kind of a "my baby likes you!" smile that I've shared with cashiers, old ladies on the street, and various other people she has flirted with. But the boy just looked back at me stone-faced and said, "Can you take him away."

The smile crumbled off my face as I said sure and picked her up. I wanted to snap at him, "It's a girl!" or "She wasn't bothering you, just looking," or "This is public space, you know." I know not everyone likes kids, and not everyone is going to think my kid is cute. I don't expect that. All the same, the rejection hurts. I felt glad that she's so little she didn't understand she was being rejected - all she knew was that I picked her up and took her away.

I guess it will be even harder when she's old enough to recognize rejection for what it is - when a preschool friend doesn't want to play with her, or the other girls in her class don't think she's cool, or when she's grown and a man she loves doesn't want her. I don't know how I'll help her deal with those things. All I can think to say is, "But *I* love you!" and sometimes Mom's love just isn't enough.