Today marks another milestone in the raising of a little boy. It’s not a proud moment by any means, but I guess it’s one of those things that happens in every kid’s educational career.
And just what is this great family achievement? Well, I received my first call from a school principal today.
I wasn’t available to take the call but heard the voicemail not long after it was left. It seems Mr. Roth (Tanner) was under the influence of a couple of his friends and decided that swinging his jacket around in circles and hitting people with it was a good idea.
During the voicemail the principal would occasionally refer over to Tanner and say, “And we aren’t going to do that again are we?” I could hear Tanner in the background with his little high-pitched voice saying “No way!”
So this is an interesting event that has come up. Once again my parenting skills, shallow dad wisdom, and patience are being tested. Since the call I have been thinking about how to handle this when I pick Tanner up today from school. Do I explode on the guy and really let him have it? Do I send him straight to his room when we get home from school? Should I take some toys away as punishment? Oh, how about this, for dinner tonight I will serve him a huge plate of broccoli while I enjoy a huge piece of chocolate cake. That will teach him a lesson or two!
OK. I have thought this through and I’m not going to do a whole lot about it other than ask him if he thinks what he did was a good idea, while calmly pointing out the error of his ways. The truth is that Tanner is a great kid. He is full of love. He’s kind and he’s conscientious of others feelings. At the age of six, I’m not sure I could ask for much more than that.
It’s true, he made a mistake, but I see a lot of me in him when I was that age. Perhaps it puts things in perspective if I told you I was voted class clown in seventh grade and it only continued on from there. Yes, I was a joker and always looking for attention and laughs from my fellow classmates. I see Tanner doing the same thing. I think he feels good when he makes kids laugh. I know that was the case for me.
I never tried to be a bad kid during my tenure as class clown, and I don’t think Tanner was in this case either. I don’t approve of the behavior because it can be disruptive, but I think I understand it. At the moment, my daddy confidence is high that I can handle this situation calmly and effectively. It’s as if my years of being the class clown have prepared me for this very moment.
Nope. This situation will be handled calmly with love, understanding and a little lecture. But, if it happens again, well then, you might want to buy stock in broccoli because we will be serving a lot of it to a six year old until he shapes up!
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It sounds like no home punishment is needed since they dealt with it at school. I agree that questioning the choice sounds like a good plan. Good time to talk about peer pressure! It is always encouraging to get to have this talk before he whipped his jacket and took someone’s eye out!