One of my son, Gabriel’s favorite pastimes is whittling.  Not the kind where you come up with anything useful at the end, but he loves cutting up sticks.  I keep hoping that one day a work of art will emerge, but thus far we have only a massive pile of shavings and several pointy sticks to show for all his effort. 

He’s a funny guy with a sense of humor that is very different from any of the rest of us.  Last week we were at an antique barn and he and I were rooting around the old tools and gizmos when he popped up from a pile of detritus holding, what looked like an old style blackjack.  He was grinning like an idiot and asked if he could have it.  Before the sentence was out of his mouth I told him

“hell, no”

He offered to pay the $10 for it.  I reiterated my previous stance on the topic and explained that the for the same reason mommy was was prohibited from owning a cattle-prod, he was prohibited from owning a billy club.  It just wouldn’t be good for the rest of us.

Like I say: funny kid.

I got a call from home today saying that Gabriel was in trouble at school.  Gabe has never been in trouble at school.  When I say “never” I mean it.  He’s a great kid and I’m lucky to be his Dad.  The short version of the story is this:

Yesterday, he accidentally forgot his pocket knife in his pocket.  So, he accidentally brought it to school with him.  When he realized that he had his knife with him he knew that he had made a big mistake.  So he told his buddy Owen.  Owen thought this was great and threatened to tell the principal on Gabe for bringing a pocket knife to school.  Well, he forgot to say anything until today.  So he told the principal that Gabe had brought a pocket knife to school … YESTERDAY.

When the principal heard that Gabe had brought a knife to school he said “Gabe?!  The one in fourth grade?!  In Mrs. L’s class?!  GABE?!”  He couldn’t believe it either.

So Gabe got dragged down to the principal’s office where he got a stern talking-to.  Because it was the end of the day, my wife was called in from the playground to see the principal and Gabriel.  When she arrived Gabe was in tears.  Not because the principal had been hard on him but because he never gets in trouble and he was all upset about it.  The principal was really very good about it and understood how it could happen and told Gabe that if this sort of thing ever happens again:

1. Gabe should go straight to the principal and ask him to hang on to the knife for him
2. DON’T TELL OWEN

Sounded like good advice to me.  I’m not upset with Gabe because it sounds like a pretty innocent mistake.  I make it all the time, in fact.  Gabe needed to understand that kids get suspended over things like that.  One kid, who really did bring a knife to school for nefarious purposes got expelled (which is good).  And I think he got that.  I don’t intend to punish him - I think he’s upset enough.

On the way home from school his mother asked him what lessons he had learned to which he replied:

1. Don’t bring a knife to school
2. DON’T TELL OWEN

Owen is a punk who shits on his friends for fun.  We have been trying to get him to find other friends.  I think this will sink in like our previous advice did not.

Dopey kid.

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