So there I was on hands and knees a few minutes ago, about to finish cleaning my baseboards in the foyer and kitchen. I had no sooner gotten to the next-to-the-last section
of the kitchen, feeling all accomplished and proud of myself and lovin' the fresh-clean smell and look of white-white trim...when it happened.
I stood up from the knee cushion to survey the territory. In so doing, I started to rest my forearm on the top shelf of the bookcase.
The shelf, I had forgotten, was missing one small piece: its fourth peg that holds the thing securely.
It's fine for lightweight things on display. Lightweight birthday presents.
Like a completely assembled by Joel-and-Dad, 1300-piece Lego aircraft carrier.
CRRRR--ASH! The "whole entire" thing--ruined! Or at least broken into 432 pieces all over the kitchen floor. Some pieces might even have gone down the heating vent. I can't bear to look.
Oh, dear, oh, dear! How DO you "break it" to your eight-year-old? There's no way I can rebuild it like it was. Not in an hour.
This is one of those times when "I'm sorry, will you please forgive me?" just doesn't seem like enough.
Awwww.
ReplyDeleteHere's how it resolved:
ReplyDeleteJust before leaving school, JOel slipped in the mud while playing with a little friend. Mud was all over him and he cried a little and asked to please go home. I took him home, but stayed in the car while he changed becuase I needed to go back out to the gas station and store. Ben was in the house.
When we got to the store I said, "JOel, when you went in the house, did you see something on the table?"
He said, "Yes. Ben broke my Lego thing." And then I said, "No, honey, Ben didn't. I did while I was cleaning--
His eyes got real big "-- and I'm so sorry. It was an accident, but will you please forgive me?"
I could hear a twinge of disappointment, naturally, when he said, "Yeah." I thanked him and then he brightened and said, "Now I can make something bigger! Will you help me build the Empire State Building?"
Oh, man, that's a great response! Why do I think a trip to the store for a big box of Legos is imminent?
ReplyDeleteActually, I think the sweetest part of the whole story is how sad you were over breaking something special...not "just" a lego creation, but an item that meant a whole lot to Joel.
Thanks for the link...this one's a keeper, Zo.
Rats about the crash! But I love how Joel is "making lemonade" out of the disappointment!
ReplyDeleteOkay, not lemonade, but the Empire State Building!!