Dear Prudence,
My son is a high school freshman and we live in a nice neighborhood near several boys his age he’s known since first grade. Last year a group of the boys decided to create a haunted trail for the young kids to visit on Halloween. My son asked if he could help, but the other boys said there were too many people involved already. My son was crushed. The other boys are all athletes; my son is not athletic or cool. I spoke to several of the mothers explaining how hurt my son was. They all told me it was a misunderstanding and the boys never meant to exclude my son. Nonetheless, his friendship with these boys ended. I told my son that sometimes friendships have an expiration date, and it hurts, but it’s a lesson in how not to treat others. Now it’s Halloween again and signs have gone up inviting neighborhood kids to the haunted trail. My son saw a sign and said, “Oh, the haunted trail—where you have to be a cool kid to help with it.” This is killing me. I feel like I’m going to turn into a crazy monster if I have to keep hearing about this trail. My husband says drop it, but I’m in a rage. We have recommended our son invite some friends over for pizza and video games on Saturday. I know this bothers him, but not nearly as much as it bothers me. How do I get over this?