We have a neighbor across the street that has kids the same age my kids. They tend to play outside together and the 1st grade girls are in the same class and sports teams as well. We have noticed that they don’t really correct or discipline their children unless they physically hurt someone. Which is there choice. However their kids say really mean things all the time, and I’ve noticed it is now effecting my kids. The other day at a basketball game their daughter told my daughter she needs to stop shooting the ball, and all the parents heard it and laughed. My neighbor just said, “oh I’m so embarrassed for my daughter.” But I noticed my daughter looked embarrassed and defeating, stopped smiling, trying and shooting the ball.

Thanks to my self coaching I talked to my daughter after the game. Told her how great she was and explained that just because someone says something not nice, that doesn’t mean it’s true.

Do you have any advice on how to handle this moving forward? Do I set up boundaries for my kids to play with the neighbors? Do I let them work out their issues? I just don’t want them to hear mean things daily and lose confidence.