Playland Bullies

We are so grateful for McDonalds Playland - it is really great for the boys to be able to blow off a little energy in a contained space.  We eat there sometimes, other time we go after lunch or dinner and get a pop while the boys play.  Either way, one thing is for sure, Casey will make a friend.  He is not shy at all.  He walks right up to another kid - boy or girl, older or younger - and says "Hi!  I'm Casey, I'm 4, wanna play?"  And most of the time the kid goes along.  Sometimes he needs to be encouraged to wait until the other kid has their coat off, but most of the time he is just friendly and eager to have a playmate besides Sam. 
Casey and Sam will play together too which can be nice.  We recently went through a phase where Casey would team up with another kid and decide Sam was "the monster" and they were always running away from him.  Sam would say "Casey!  I no wanna be the monster anymore" and with a little parental involvement they would include him.
This week was the first time I watched a kid be really mean to Casey.  Jeff tells of a time that some girls who were a little older were very mean to him and he came back to Jeff crying.  But this was new to me.  There were 2 boys, clearly together, right about Casey's age.  And I hate to say this, but the clear leader of the two just looked the part.  Bad mohawk like haircut, sweatpants and T-Shirt that were a little too small.  They came in and naturally Casey walked right over and introduced himself and asked if he could play with them.  The leader kid just said "NO" and they both turned and went away.  Well, Casey isn't deterred that easily.  He followed them up the structure saying "Wait for me -I want to play too"  They ignored him for a minute, then this kid yells - "Stop following us! We are not friends!"
Meanwhile, on the sidelines.... I am not sure what to do.  I am looking at this other kids mom who is paying no attention whatsoever.  These kids don't have to play with my kid, but he doesn't have to yell at him.  I call Casey over and encourage him to just move on, don't worry about those kids.
Luckily another kid comes in about then and is very receptive to Casey's invitation to play.  They both have the same truck toy and are playing with those.  Now they have the other two kids attention because they don't have the toys.  So the two mean kids keep coming around Casey and his little pal - Casey and pal ignore them.  Then mean kid comes right up behind new pal and presses his chest against his back - and bumps him!  Now I am almost out of my seat.  Mean kids mom still paying no attention, new pal's mom out getting a soda.  But Casey and new pal just move away and keep playing.   I sit back.
Mean kid and friend then come back, walk right up to Casey and mean kid puts his foot right on Casey's foot and presses down.  He is right in Casey's face.  I am about to pounce.  Casey looks right at him and says, totally confused "What are you doing?"  The bully, sort of confused, says "I'm stepping on you".  Casey, in classic Casey fashion, "Why would you do that?"  Bully runs off, with his friend in tow.   Casey and new pal get back to their game.  I sit back in my chair.
Who is this kid?  Calm cool collected - disarming bullies with his simple questions that have no logical answers.  I was so proud of him.  He wasn't rattled at all.  He held his own without being mean back.  I told him I was really proud of the how he responded and I don't think he really got what I was saying.  Telling Jeff about it later I almost cried.  The intensity of the urge to get up and smack that bully was pretty crazy, that other mom just sitting there paying no attention was maddening. But he didn't need my help.  He had it handled.  "Trust me mom" he tells me sometimes, "I'm a big kid".  Indeed.