My 9-year-old son has had his first encounter with mean kids this vacation.

There are a couple of boys he’s played with in the past but, for whatever reason, are not being nice this year. For the most part, Adam seems to have sensed their unfriendliness and has avoided them. He’s found some other kids on the beach to pal around with. But occasionally, when they aren’t around, he will approach the unfriendly kids.

Until the other day, he hadn’t mentioned any of this to me. I’ve just perceived it from watching him and watching them: Adam will approach them as they are building a sand castle. No one says a word to him. He walks away.

But the other day, he came back from playing on the rocks with these boys and he looked upset. Apparently, they made fun of him because he wasn’t wearing Under Armor compression shorts under his bathing suit. Come again?

As a mom, I wanted to storm off down the beach and give these boys a piece of my mind, but I knew that wouldn’t help. It would only make matters worse for Adam. So instead, I told him they weren’t worth playing with and to avoid them. Luckily he has found other friends and seems to have brushed off the incident.

But I’m still fuming.