Lesson learned

The other day my son learned a lesson, apparently better than I expected he would.

As we sat waiting at his bus stop in the morning for the bus to arrive, we went through our normal routine. Pray about his day ahead, and talk about what he needs to focus on for his behavior, etc. I saw the bus coming in the rear view mirror and told him “Wait until the bus stops before you open the door.”

He did not. And I watched as the concern that motivated my statement to him became a reality. He opened the door, all the way, right in to the side of the still moving bus as it drove next to our car. Thankfully, either the driver saw what was happening and stopped just in time, or a major coincidence in timing, but the bus stopped right at the point of jamming the door against its own wheel well. It was jammed in hard enough that the only option was for me to start the car and move forward, releasing the pressure on the door. I am so glad that my son’s fingers were not in between the door and the bus. As I pulled forward, it appeared that the door was not bent or the hinges sprung, for which I am also thankful.

I rolled down the window and ‘made it clear’ to the boy that he had not listened, and the exact reason for my statement had happened. He was visibly sorry for his mistake. As he got on the bus with his head hung a little low, I felt like a schmuck for scolding him right before sending him off for the day.

The next morning as we sat at the bus stop and went through our routine, I saw the bus coming, and again said to him “Wait until the bus stops before you open the door.” This time, the bus pulled along side and stopped and two other kids got on it. After a few more seconds a small, tender voice came from the back seat, ‘Daddy . . . . . . is the bus stopped now?”

So he at least learned a lesson through it. As I pondered his response the second day, I am not sure if he learned the lesson I wanted him to, i.e. that opening a door beside a moving vehicle is dangerous, or if he learned to be overly cautious so as not to make daddy mad. Perhaps we both learned a lesson through this experience.