Little Watch

Calfgrit7 has mentioned wanting to get a watch for the past few weeks, so a few days ago, Cowgrit got him one. She surprised him with it one morning, and he was really excited.

It was an analog clock (dial & hands) with a black plastic band with red flames. It did look pretty cool. He put it on immediately, and I asked him the time. He looked at his watch intently and counted the little lines past the hour. “Seven fourteen,” he told me.

After breakfast, he went to brush his teeth. “Is the watch okay to get wet?” he asked me. I told him to try to keep it dry, as it might stop working if it got wet. So he took it off while brushing his teeth.

He wore the watch to school and loved it. He was so proud to have it, and I was proud of how well he was trying to take care of it. That evening he and I and another father and son went to watch a semi-pro soccer game. A strong rain storm came through before the game started, so it was canceled. When we were out in the rain, rushing back to the truck, Calfgrit7 took off the watch and put it in his pocket, to keep it from getting wet. I told him how proud I was of him for taking care of his new watch.

The next day at school, he fell in some mud on the playground. When he went to the restroom to wash up, he took off his watch and set it on top of the towel holder. After washing up, he left the restroom, but he forgot his watch. Sadly, when he remembered and went back later in the day, it was gone.

It never turned up in the school lost and found, and he was pretty sad. He’d only had the thing a little over 24 hours, and despite his best effort to take care of it, it was gone. Cowgrit and I both reiterated how proud we were for his effort, but we consoled him that mistakes happen sometimes. He offered to use his own money, out of his piggy bank to buy another watch, but we told him we’d get him another one.

It’s a sad story. Despite his best effort to take care of it, it got forgotten and then apparently stolen. A sad life lesson for a 7 year old.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com