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How a Dad Took a Good Look at His Son’s Bad Day and Ended Up in Awe
His son Chris had a bad day, but as a dad, Sean was willing to cut some slack. More than that, he was filled with profound respect. Here’s why.
My son had a bad day yesterday. It all began when he left his backpack in the car. He does this a lot, leaving things behind. His backpack, his lunchbox, his gloves. Last summer he came home from day camp in just his bathing suit, having lost his clothes, shoes and spare eyeglasses while at the pool. It’s to the point that whenever I walk down the dirty stretch of alley between my office and the coffee shop and I see a single shoe or a stray pair of pants I think, “Chris must have been here.”
Not long after dropping my other son off at pre-K, I received a voicemail from Chris. I assumed he was calling to ask me to bring his backpack to the school, but it turns out he was calling to tell me that his glasses had been broken by a classmate. He was hysterical in a manner that would have won him the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress for the next decade, at least. I called the school and assured Chris that I was not mad, clearly it was an accident.
