The Best Time Was...

The B-Word - Wendy got a phone call from Michael's 3rd Grade teacher. Apparently some boys told the teacher that Michael said one of the girls in his class was going to grow up to be a "b-word". And they literally meant that he said "b-word" and not the actual word. Because the school had recent complaints of kids using inappropriate language and because it happened at the end of the day, Mike's teacher said that she was going to have to refer him down to the office the next day. Unfortunately, in addition to telling Mike's teacher, the kids also let the girl know and her feelings were hurt. Mike did everything he could to convince Wendy & I that he did not say that. He claimed that the boys must have misheard him. I told Mike that his teacher had no choice because more than just one boy claimed that Mike had said this. Mike tried to make excuses like "maybe they heard me say she talks with a high pitched voice"? But, I told him that nobody is saying that he actually said the word, so a rhyming word would not explain it. Then I told Mike that the schools were now equipped with cameras and maybe I can get his teacher to send me the video in an email. I also told him that even though it was a bad thing that it would be much better if he told me the truth now rather than me finding out the truth later from someone else. But, Mike persisted that he was not going to admit to something that he did not do. So, I said to him to just tell the counselor the truth the next day and we'll see what happens. Then he & I headed out to baseball practice. When we returned I told him to just get his shower done. When he was done with his shower, he came down looking for me. And he just said "Dad, I did it, I did call her the b-word". He started to cry and I asked him why he did it. He said that she was just being mean to one of his friends and he felt sorry for him and he just blurted it out. So, we had Mike write an apology note to the girl and we wrote a note to the teacher. I am actually proud that we were able to get him to finally admit the truth. I'm a little worried that I had to resort to making him think the truth would be revealed by cameras. But, I'm also glad that he did not say the actual word either. We did ground him from computer games and video games for the next few days. But he reminded us that he should also write an apology note. Just another trial & tribulation in raising kids. That was the best time!