Posts Tagged ‘Arthur J’

The Vase

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

Grandma Maureen had a special vase that she kept on a table in the hallway that lead from the living room to the bedroom. It was her mother’s. She loved that vase. it reminded her of her mother. Every few days she put fresh flowers in the vase.

Arthur J and Bobby were pushing each other as they went down the hall. They bumped into the table with the vase on it. Before either one of them could catch the vase, it fell to the floor and broke in too many pieces to ever be glued back together again.

For a minute Arthur J and Bobby just stared at the broken vase on the floor. They couldn’t believe what they had done. Then they looked at each other and Bobby said, ” What do we do? Grandma loves this vase. We can’t buy her a new one, it came from her mother. She is going to be so mad at us!”

Arthur J answered,”I know, we can say the dog did it. He ran by the table, very fast and his tail was wagging so fast it knocked the vase over.”

Bobby thought for a moment. He wasn’t so sure that lying about it was such a good idea. Grandma could always tell when they were lying. Besides, he liked the dog and didn’t want to get him in trouble.

Just then, grandma came down the hall and saw the vase broken on the floor. ” Oh, no,” she said, ” Not my mother’s vase!”

Before Bobby could say anything. Arthur J said, “The dog did it, grandma. He broke your vase.”

Grandma Maureen looked at Arthur J and said,”It is bad enough that you broke my vase, but now you are not telling me the truth about how it got broken. The dog isn’t even here. He is outside, where he has been for the past hour.”

Then grandma said, “Let’s go in the living room and sit down and talk about this.” When they sat down, grandma said,”Accidents happen, but blaming others, especially a pet that cannot defend himself is wrong. Blaming the dog for my vase is telling a lie and no good comes of lying. At first, you may think it is an easy way to avoid being punished for doing something, but a lie often makes things harder for us as we keep telling it. Please tell me what really happened to my vase.

So that is what they did. Arthur J and Bobby told Grandma Maureen what happened. They said that were sorry and asked what they could do to make up for breaking the vase. Then Arthur J apologized for lying to his grandma and promised not to do it again.

Grandma hugged them both and reminded them it is always better to tell the truth. She told then they could make up for breaking the vase by helping her around the house for the rest of the day. Arthur J and Bobby were all to happy to help. They really felt bad about breaking her favorite vase.

Then Arthur J got up and started for the back door. Grandma Maureen called after him, asking where he was going.

Arthur J answered,”I’m going to apologize to the dog for blaming him.”

Grandma smiled and said,”Do you think he will understand you?”Arthur J answered,” No , but I’ll feel better for saying I’m sorry.”

Pocket

Tags: Arthur J, bobby, Can Do Kids, Good Choices, Grandma Maureen, life skills, lying, taking responsibility, telling the truth
Posted in Arthur J, Bobby, good behavior, Good Choices, Grandma Maureen, lying, responsibilites, responsibility, telling the truth, vase | No Comments »

Arthur J. Loses His Way

Friday, August 17th, 2012

Arthur J. felt so grown up walking the one block to Hector’s house all by himself.

Hector lived three blocks from a playground with a ping pong table. Arthur J. was looking forward to beating Hector in a game or two.

Arthur J. was staying with Grandma Maureen and Grandpa John over the weekend. They only lived one block from Hector.

When Grandma Maureen agreed that he could walk to Hector’s alone, Arthur J had to promise to go directly to Hector’s and not stop anywhere else or talk to strangers along the way. When he got to Hector’s, he was to call Grandma Maureen from the cell phone she gave him to use.

Arthur J. got to Hector’s house and rang the bell. Hector’s mom answered the door, saying,” Hi Arthur J. How are you today?” Arthur smiled and answered, “I’m fine, thank you Miss Maria. I came to ask Hector to go to the playground with me.”

Miss Maria shook her head no and said, “Hector can’t go anywhere today. In fact, he won’t be going anywhere until he finishes the books on his summer reading list. Did you read all the books on the reading list”?

Arthur J shook his head yes and answered, “I finished reading all the books last week.”

“Good for you,” said Hector’s mom. “I am sorry you came over here only to find out Hector can’t play with you today.” Arthur J nodded. Hector’s mom closed the door. Arthur J stood there a minute wondering what to do next.

Arthur J really wanted to go to the playground. He knew there would be other kids there willing to play a game of ping pong with him. Besides, he thought to himself, the playground was only three blocks from where he was. He could walk that distance in no time. He would be careful crossing the streets.

Arthur J forgot about his promise to call his grandma when he got to Hector’s. He also forgot that grandma only gave him permission to walk by himself as far as Hector’s house.

He started walking in the direction he thought he would find the playground. After three blocks, he new he was going the wrong way. He came to a street with heavy traffic and wasn’t so sure he should cross the street. He turned around and started walking back, but the street didn’t look familiar to him. He thought he must have taken a wrong turn somehow.

Now Arthur J was scared. He thought he was lost. He was afraid to ask a stranger for help. There were no police around, or school crossing guards, or even a mailman that he could ask for help. Then he remembered the cell phone. He dialed grandma’s number. She answered right away. She sounded so worried. “Where are you? When you didn’t call, we called Hector’s mom. She said you had already left. Grandpa John is out looking for you right now.”

Grandma was talking so fast, Arthur couldn’t even say anything. When grandma stopped talking, Arthur J said,”I’m lost. I don’t know where I am.” Grandma said, “Arthur J, look at the street sign what does it say?” Arthur looked around and said the name of the street he was on. “Oak Street,” said Arthur J. “OK said grandma. “Follow the street to the next corner and read me the sign of the street that crosses Oak street.” Arthur hurried down the street, feeling safer with every step he took, knowing that his grandpa would be coming for him soon.

When he got to the next corner, he told grandma the name of the street, Elm Street. Grandma answered, “Stay there and grandpa will come and get you.” A few minutes went by and Grandpa John pulled up in the car. Arthur J got in the car. Grandpa didn’t say much on the way home.

When they got in the house, grandpa told Arthur J to go into the living room and wait for him and grandma there. That’s when Arthur J knew he was in trouble.

Grandma came in and hugged him and told him she was so glad he was okay. Grandpa cleared his throat and said, “Arthur J you gave us quite a scare. You didn’t keep your promise to call and you walked far more than one block on your own. You didn’t behave like a boy who should be allowed to go out on his own. It will be a long time before we let you go out alone again.”

Arthur J said, ” I’m sorry I broke my promise. I’m sorry I made you worry.”

Grandpa said, “I know you are. Then he looked at grandma and asked, “What should Arthur’s punishment be?” Grandma thought a minute and answered, “I think Arthur needs some quiet time to think about what he did. An afternoon in his room and no TV tonight will give him that time.”

Arthur J wasn’t happy about the punishment, but he knew what he did was wrong. He worried his grandparents and didn’t keep his promise. So, maybe he did need to think about making better choices in the future.