Sorry, Mr. Police Officer

Well, it was a more eventful morning than I would have hoped!  We started out on our walk to school this beautiful morning ... my five-year-old riding her bike, my almost seven-year-old on his scooter, my two-year-old riding in the stroller, and my eight-year-old and her friend walking behind me.  The two on contraptions always go a little faster and know to stop at each street corner.  There is a large turn at the bottom of a hill near our house that I loose sight of them for a minute or two.  It was then that the problem began.

Apparently my bike-riding daughter was feeling the need to 'win' something and announced that she was the champion of the race.  My son knows that they are not to race to avoid accidents and so this comment ticked him off.  I soon found out that there was some shoving and a bike tossed.  My son came to tattle on his sister.  I didn't want to deal with conflicting reports and just announced that they would both walk the rest of the way to school.  End of story.

My son's scooter was folded and put in the bottom of the stroller.  He was very complaint.  My daughter, however, began protesting.  I told her that we were going to continue and that if she did not leave her bike to walk with us I would report to the police officer that usually helps with crossing kids in the morning that she was by herself several blocks away and I might need his help to ensure her safety.  This threat got her catching up quickly.  Which is good because it was a completely empty threat.  I would never admit to an officer that I my daughter refused to come with me and it ended up there wasn't even an officer on duty.

My daughter turned her attitude around quite remarkably.  We had a wonderful walk the rest of the way to school.  So wonderful that I hadn't even turned around to see that her bike was lying on a street corner, right near the street, with her helmet on top. 

We were on our way home after seeing the kids off to school and just about to turn the corner to where we would find her bike so she could ride the rest of the way home.  I noticed an officer turn on the street that we would be turning on.  I joked, "I hope he's not going to see what happened with your bike."  Oh, dear.  I should have never joked.  Talk about karma!

He REALLY WAS going to see what happened with the bike.  There were SEVERAL calls to the police station reporting a bike and helmet left on a corner on the way to school.  After thinking about it, I can see why our neighborly patrons were worried that something had happened.  There could have been an accident or an abduction.  Oh, seriously.  I didn't even think about it.

So, I spent the next several minutes explaining the situation and how both kids lost their chance to 'ride' to school.  I let him know that the scooter fits nicely under the stroller, but I didn't want to carry the bike the half mile to school.  I apologized profusely.  He was really very kind.  He even told a white lie when reporting what he found after investigating the bike ... stating that there was a child who got 'tired' on the way to school and the family picked it up on the way home.

Ugh.  Well, we lived to learn a valuable lesson this morning.  My daughter was a little confused about the lie the officer told.  I let her know that he was being kind to avoid us being more embarrassed than we already were.  Next time, I'll find a better place to park the bike.

It's okay. 

Enjoy the journey you have been blessed with, love the people in your life, smile :) and remember, 'It's Okay.'

Visit www.itsokaybooks.com to learn more!

Don't want to miss a blog? Sign up to receive e-mail notification.