Today Charlie’s good friend told him he wasn’t his best friend anymore and didn’t want to play with him. I knew he didn’t mean it–he is only 4–and it would last only about 15 minutes, but Charlie was devastated and sobbing and it broke my heart and gave me a glimpse of the way things work with kids and their friends. I hugged him and tried to get everyone to play together but it wouldn’t work and Charlie kept wailing so much that everyone on the playground was watching and I wanted to let him know that crying and screaming generally drives kids away more but how do you convey that to a 3 3/4 year old? As I predicted about 20 minutes later they were happily playing again.