And sometimes they surprise you....

I got a call a little while ago from the middle school principal. Ut oh, I think, this can't be good. She starts off with "Teddy is fine and not in any kind of trouble"... okay that's a good thing. Then she tells me we had an incident today where another student said that Teddy had a knife.

My mind immediately flashes to the conversation at the dinner table last night - roughly 15 hours ago - where Teddy asked if he could have a pocket knife. Oh Teddy what have you done? I tried to remind myself that she said he wasn't in any trouble.

Okay I say to her. So when that happens, she continues, of course it's a big deal and I went down to him and he had to empty his pockets for me. I'm holding my breath waiting for the shoe to drop. There was nothing in there but some lint and a quarter, just what a boy should have. Okay, well that's good I say.

But I'm calling you because of how he handled himself and the situation. He was quick to defend the other student. He told me they are in after care together and have a bit of a history but that the other kid has some special needs and some times he makes things up but he doesnt' mean anything by it. He's not trying to get me in trouble or anything. He didn't really think it through that saying that would be such a big deal. At one point Teddy went over to Al (she never named him, but there's no doubt who it is) and said to him "I want you to listen to what I'm saying to Ms. Palson because I would never do that. You can't bring weapons to school and I don't want you to be scared." He told me, she continued, it's really not a big deal. He just can't help it and he says stuff sometimes. He thought maybe Al had seen the quarter in his pocket and maybe he even thought it was a knife since the quarter was shiny.

She said that Teddy was calm and collected the entire time doing his best to walk me through it as well as Al; wanting to make sure I understood that Al really didn't mean anything by it, he wasn't trying to be malicious in any way. She said she's never had a kid handle that kind of situation with such maturity and grace. He very carefully walked through what was happening without any panic whatsoever. With any discussion of a weapons there is often panic and there wasn't at all in this case and it was entirely due to Teddy and how he handled himself and the situation as a whole. He spoke clearly and spefically and responded in a way very few kids could or would have; you should be very proud of him.

It's got to be a bit disconcerting to have the principal come down and make you empty your pockets but he was fine and handled himself extrememly well. He is a much, much more balanced and mature child than I'd given him credit for. He's just a neat, neat kid.

I'm not doing justice to all the wonderful things she said about Teddy, but even so it's nice to be reminded that my child is in fact a great person and he won't be 11 forever. Of course, we're proud of him and as Brad said when I told him about it, it's never a bad thing to have a bit of credit in the bank with the principal. I'd have to agree!

Camela