Yesterday as we were getting ready to take the kids to Cornbellys, it happened...
The boys were playing outside while Russ and I were getting Zoey ready, I walked downstairs to find a very terrified and sad looking Taevin sitting quietly on the couch. He said with his little voice shaking "mom, I feel really stupid". Thinking surely some kid had been mean to him I was ready to go outside demanding justice but I could barely ask why when he burst into tears and told me he had been throwing rocks in the road when one accidentally hit Tasia's car and broke the window. I tried to calm him down to gather the whole story but he was inconsolable. I finally said "well let's go take a look and talk to her."
We walked up there to survey the damage (Taevin sobbing and clinging to my arm the whole time) and sure enough, the window was broken. (turns out it was actually big dirt clots he had been throwing to break them up and one had flown up and got the window) It was the back drivers side window on their Suburban and it would definitely need to be replaced. As we proceeded to the door Taevin kept insisting that she was going to yell at him, now mind you, I have some of the best neighbors a person could ever ask for and I can't imagine any of them actually yelling at him, especially being as remorseful as he was. But if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be Tasia. When she answered the door, he hid behind me as I explained what had happened and as I suspected, she handled it like a champ! (and this is why she is one of my best friends.) She sat him on her lap and hugged him and told him that accidents happen and that she was proud of him for having the courage to tell her about it. That seemed to calm him down so he apologized and I sent him home so her and I could work out the details.
My insurance company was less than helpful, but it'll probably cost around $200.00 to fix the window. I don't know many people who have as many random financial disasters as we do but if it had to happen, I'm glad it was with someone so kind and flexible.
Later when Taevin was more willing to communicate, we had a chat about why it wasn't acceptable to be throwing anything in the road and how we would need to find a way for him to earn some money to help pay for the window.
I think he has learned his lesson, I've opted not to punish him given that I think he's punished himself enough and to be honest I'm really proud of him for owning up to it, many kids would just run away to avoid the consequences.
Well, I guess I'm off to redo this months budget to accommodate the window repair... sigh.
The boys were playing outside while Russ and I were getting Zoey ready, I walked downstairs to find a very terrified and sad looking Taevin sitting quietly on the couch. He said with his little voice shaking "mom, I feel really stupid". Thinking surely some kid had been mean to him I was ready to go outside demanding justice but I could barely ask why when he burst into tears and told me he had been throwing rocks in the road when one accidentally hit Tasia's car and broke the window. I tried to calm him down to gather the whole story but he was inconsolable. I finally said "well let's go take a look and talk to her."
We walked up there to survey the damage (Taevin sobbing and clinging to my arm the whole time) and sure enough, the window was broken. (turns out it was actually big dirt clots he had been throwing to break them up and one had flown up and got the window) It was the back drivers side window on their Suburban and it would definitely need to be replaced. As we proceeded to the door Taevin kept insisting that she was going to yell at him, now mind you, I have some of the best neighbors a person could ever ask for and I can't imagine any of them actually yelling at him, especially being as remorseful as he was. But if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be Tasia. When she answered the door, he hid behind me as I explained what had happened and as I suspected, she handled it like a champ! (and this is why she is one of my best friends.) She sat him on her lap and hugged him and told him that accidents happen and that she was proud of him for having the courage to tell her about it. That seemed to calm him down so he apologized and I sent him home so her and I could work out the details.
My insurance company was less than helpful, but it'll probably cost around $200.00 to fix the window. I don't know many people who have as many random financial disasters as we do but if it had to happen, I'm glad it was with someone so kind and flexible.
Later when Taevin was more willing to communicate, we had a chat about why it wasn't acceptable to be throwing anything in the road and how we would need to find a way for him to earn some money to help pay for the window.
I think he has learned his lesson, I've opted not to punish him given that I think he's punished himself enough and to be honest I'm really proud of him for owning up to it, many kids would just run away to avoid the consequences.
Well, I guess I'm off to redo this months budget to accommodate the window repair... sigh.
Oh shoot, poor kid. Good for him for telling you about it. I'm totally shocked that one of my kids hasn't broken your window with a baseball yet. And yep, I'm pretty sure Tasia has never yelled at anyone a day in her life! :)
ReplyDeleteSienna threw a huge Tonka truck into our window well while playing outside one day. It hit the window and shattered it. Good times...
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet kid...for knowing what he did was wrong, admitting it, and taking responsibility. He obviously has amazing parents. Yayy for good neighbors!
ReplyDelete