Inside Looking Out

Today after supper there were some neighborhood kids running around in our neighbor's yard. Martin heard them playing, and went over to the deck door to check out the commotion. He saw them and must have thought it looked like fun because he started yelling to them through the screen. (They, of course, didn't hear him.) He kept yelling and getting more and more upset, so I went over to get him. By the time I got there he was banging on the screen door in a desperate attempt to communicate how badly he wanted to go outside and play. I pulled him away from the door despite his cries of protest. I brought him into the living room and tried to distract him with some of his toys. He played with me for a few seconds, but then ran back to the door in tears. It absolutely broke my heart to tell him he couldn't go out and play with the kids. He was so upset! I had a vision of Martin coming home from school upset because some kids wouldn't let him play with them. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with that. How will I comfort him when I feel like crying? I guess I will deal with it when the time actually comes. For now, I was able to distract Martin by taking him downstairs and building towers with his blocks.