I called him over and put my hands at his shoulders. We locked eyes and I saw a well of emotion creeping up as his eyes started to tear up.
“Tell the truth….please tell me what happened.” After a brief paused he told me and a tear ran down his cheek. Was I angry? Yes…but that was transitory as it was an opportunity to teach my son about taking ownership of his own actions and trust that he could talk to me about what was going on his life.
We hugged and he’s now raking the entire back yard…he’s surprisingly okay with the punishment he was dealt.