It Had to Happen

I should have known that sooner or later I would get a phone call from the school saying that one of my boys had been sent to the Principal's office. I was laying on the couch with Ty, fighting off nausea, when the call came. It was Devin. I could tell something had happened because he could barely speak, and refused to talk to me about it on the phone. All he said was, "I had to go to the Principal's office". All the way to the school I was trying to imagine what had happened. Devin is not usually one to get in trouble, but he has a bit of a smart mouth, which gets him in trouble a lot at home. When I got to the office, Devin wasn't there, but Mrs. Caldwell, the principal, told me what had happened, and she seemed surprised that Devin had called me. She said that some of the 3rd graders, including Devin and Sawyer (a boy who has a tendency to rub Devin the wrong way), were playing baseball at recess. When the bell rang Devin's team was ahead by one point, but Sawyer wanted one last pitch. He hit it, giving his team the win..I guess...anyway. Mrs. Caldwell said that Sawyer followed Devin into the school bragging about his hit, and the win. And then Devin punched Sawyer in the stomach. I was pretty surprised at that, but Mrs. Caldwell said she talked with both the boys, and they seemed to be okay. But, obviously, Devin wasn't. When I talked to Dev, he said he had told Sawyer to "shut-up" a few times, but when he wouldn't he "sucker-punched him in the gut". After the boys went back to class the kids couldn't stop talking about it, and Devin was so embarrassed that he wanted to come home. I talked to him on the way home and told him that he had made the choice to hit someone, so he would have to face everyone talking at school. I let him eat two PB&H sandwiches and then I took him back. Chalk this one up to a good learning experience...I hope.