While attending elementary school, I slowly started socializing with my classmates both in class and at recess. This was great a improvement after my antisocial preschool years. However, it wasn’t always a successful interaction.
My parents were quite concerned when I got off of the school bus at our house crying. Did something frustrate me at school? Between sobs, I managed to say that my classmates were being mean to me at recess. Oh no, was I being bullied? Slowly, I explained that the other kids were tossing a ball to each other, but when they offered it to me, they’d take it away before I could take the ball. They did this repeatedly, which I thought was cruel.
My parents relaxed, both relieved and amused by the scenario. They explained to me that those kids were trying to teach me the game Keep Away. The object was to try catching the ball while it was being tossed around in a group. They were kind enough to try including me in their game, but I flat out did not understand what or why they were behaving that way, and so assumed they were being mean.
It still amazes me today to think that those kids were willing to make a friend out of me, the one who frequently cried in class or had an angry fit, but for some reason they wanted to play with me. In later years I was able to make many friends, but it took a while for me to catch on.
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