The "Punishment"

I was going to post about Ridge's "punishment" later but I had to do it tonight so I'd have this on record. We asked him to do a small service every day and we are asking him to do something different each day but as a last resort he can write a nice note to someone. He is supposed to do this for a month and one of us asks him about it before bed. This isn't coming very naturally to him even though he can be a sweet boy. Just thinking about doing it on purpose is making it hard. Tonight he wrote a note to me and it was just what I needed.

The Author and the Slingshot

Ridge got off the bus Tuesday and the first thing he asked was,

Can we go to Third Place Books to meet Patrick Carmen and get a new chapter book that he wrote?

A few other authors have visited Ridge's school but hasn't been interested in meeting them or in owning their books. This man struck a chord with Ridge so much so that Ridge even brought him a present. Patrick told the children that he loved frosting and that he brings frosting to all of his book signings. We had cupcakes at our house, family night treats from the day before, so Ridge put one in a plastic bag then put that into a pop tarts box from the recycling then wrapped that with white paper from the printer. By the time Patrick opened it the cupcake was smashed to the plastic, but he was kind and said he'd save it for later and put more frosting of his own on top. He did indeed have frosting on the table, along with a big bowl of preztles which he offered to everyone who spoke with him along with instructions on no double-dipping.

Ridge had also started his own book by the time he got home based on the Atherton series the he was interested in. Mr. Carmen was actually speaking to the 1st and 2nd graders about his new book series for 6-8 year olds called Elliot's Park. I was really impressed with him, he seemed full of goodness so I was glad that Ridge had chosen him as a role model because...

Today on the way home from the morning bus stop I noticed our next door neighbor waiting at the top of his driveway. He is usually gone by the time we get home, puts his jr. high aged son on the bus then leaves. I realized he was waiting for me because he was kind of shuffling back and forth, hands in his pockets and I was bracing myself for some bad news. In a friendly way he recounted the story of yesterday, he heard the boys in the backyard calling out to his dog over the fence, they didn't realize the neighbor was in his garage. Usually they have no interest in the dog so he came out to ask what they were doing. Cannon quickly piped up,

Ridge wants to test out his slingshot on Newton!

Now I can laugh but I didn't know what to say this morning. I'm not at all happy that Ridge wanted to test it on a living creature (the neighbor suggested a target on the back fence or wood pile instead of his dog) but I should explain that this was a sling shot that Ridge made out of a bowed stick he found and a string of rubber bands tied together.

So I think I have a solution to this behavior, it isn't a punishment but Ridge will think it is. I'll let you know the results in a few weeks.