By Mary Rarick

When Wednesday’s calendar was clear I expected an Easy Breezy, Beautiful, Cover Girl day, so you can imagine my surprise when I received a phone call at the office from my 15-year-old son, stating he’d missed his bus.

Now Jesse has been waking to an alarm, pouring cereal and getting himself, his backpack and clarinet to school on his own since the first grade. While he hasn’t exactly been a latchkey child–I’ve always been lurking in the background as backup for when things don’t go well–he’s definitely a pro. And as he’s gotten older, I’ve departed for the office earlier, so when he called today I was surprised.

When he arrived home from band practice Tuesday night at 9:45 p.m. he informed me that he had some nagging health homework that called for computer time. We agreed that it could wait until morning. Truth be told I had almost asked him to set a timer Wednesday morning before I left for work. The timer’s an old trick I use for myself. I set it when I don’t want to lose track of time yet know that I may get engrossed in a project. And we all know how computers are. It’s easy to get lost in the glowing screen.

But, despite the fact that this pre-school computer time was an exception to his daily routine, I resisted the urge to suggest the timer. He’s a teen soon to be an adult. He’s got to learn on his own.

And I believe he did learn a valuable lesson. Once he realized that the bus had come and gone without him and left with limited options–we live two miles from his school, he had little choice but to call me at work and ask for assistance.

I could see immediately that he was embarrassed and disappointed in himself, which didn’t surprise me since he’s usually very responsible. So I did what anyone would do, knowing he’d learned a valuable lesson. I told him to think of missing the bus as getting the day’s hiccup out of the way. The worst part of the day was behind him.

Tags: independence, lessons, school bus, teachable moments, teens