A Misguided Attempt

This week the boys had Monday off school since they didn't use up any of the built in snow days on the calendar. Theo would also be home since his spring semester had ended the Friday before. I was supposed to work, but had scheduled to take the afternoon off to enjoy some time with the family.

Backtracking a couple of weeks... There is a teacher at Corbin's school that takes a group of 8th graders on a trip to Washington DC over spring break. It is a lot of money. The kids work for a whole year raising money and preparing for the adventure. When we heard about it, we were really excited and thought this would be a fun opportunity for Corbin. He wasn't too sure he wanted to work to earn all of that money, but once he found out some friends were going, he was IN.

Bowen and Rex decided on their own that they wanted to help in the fundraising department. They immediately got a box, covered it in duct tape and labeled it as a collection for Corbin's DC trip. They encouraged Theo and I to put in any change we had leftover whenever we bought things. They were so excited.

Returning to our Monday off... I went to work in the morning, and returned home at lunch to enjoy our leisurely afternoon at home. Theo was in the shower having just returned from a run with Corbin. Bowen was playing in the backyard, and Rex was sitting on the living room couch happily fondling a somewhat large wad of one dollar bills. Drake is nowhere to be seen. I was a little surprised to see Rex with money knowing that he hadn't earned any lately. He is not a big saver. So I casually asked where he got the cash. "Oh, we collected it," Rex gleefully reported.

Me, getting an uneasy feeling, "What do you mean you collected it?"

Rex, happily replies, "We just got it from around the neighborhood."

Me, growing more chagrined, "You mean you went around and asked people for money?! Where exactly did you go?"

Rex, certainly noticing the increasing shrillness of my voice says, "We just went around by our house. We didn't go very far."

At this point, Bowen was called in from the backyard to take part in the impending tongue lashing. A barrage of questions ensued. Why would you do that? Where was dad? Did he know what you were going to do? Did you tell Drake where you were going? What did you say to people when you went to their doors? All of these came out in a steadily increasing volume.

They just wanted to help Corbin. They stayed near our house. They told people what the money was for. Somehow, these answers didn't do much to assuage my horror. I am thinking we should take the money back, but would they even be able to remember where they got it from? Little kids can cover a surprising amount of ground when motivated.

Theo emerged from the shower to referee (see stop me from inflicting any more verbal torture). Rex and Bo scurried to safer territory.

Once the heat of the moment had passed, I had some guilt about my reaction. They were just trying to help afterall. No harm had really been done, and I am certain they wouldn't do it again! We are always trying to get our boys to be more kind to each other, to think about others' needs. They were only doing what we taught them. Even if he attempt was a little misguided. Oy vei, what the neighbors must think of us!