Before
we left the house I asked the three girls if they had everything.
“Yes,”
they chorused.
I
drove away satisfied that all was good. They were chatting, laughing and
singing as if they hadn’t seen each other in years when I thought of one item
that Morgan may have forgotten, we were not too far away so I asked, “Do you
have your card?”
The
silence told me all I needed to know.
As
I looked in the rearview mirror I saw Morgan with her hands clasped around her
face. Then she started with the apologies, a constant repeated chant, “Sorry
Mummy. Sorry Mummy. Sorry Mummy.” With a sigh I indicated to turn the car
around and return to the house.
As
we were nearing the end of the road I spoke again. “What do you want to give
up?” I asked Morgan.
The
other two looked confused.
“My
DS,” she replied sadly.
“How
long for?” I asked.
“Two
days please. I need it back by Friday night, please ...”
“OK.”
I looked at the clock on the dashboard and said, “Friday, at this time, you can
have it back.”
“What
was that about?” asked one of the girls.
Morgan
explained why she had chosen her own consequence. I added that it was something
to help her remember in the future. The girls were impressed that she got to
choose her own punishment.
“If
it was my mum, she’d take away all my stuff for ages!” they declared in wonder.
Morgan
looked even more relieved at that. I thought she would learn from that valuable
lesson, and I’m sure she will, but this particular day was not the day for the
best memory activities from Morgan.
When
we got to the venue, I was about to settle down while they enjoyed their
activity, when I saw Morgan coming back towards me. I could see nothing was
hurt or damaged on her so I was at a loss to figure out why she was so sad.
As
I reached her, she burst into tears.
“What’s
wrong, darling?” I questioned her gently.
“I’ve
forgotten something else,” she wailed, “I can’t do it now.”
Her
friends came up behind her, I looked up at them trying to decide what to do.
What
happened next?
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