Parenting sometimes means making tough stands in unexpected places. For me, it happened over a $50 bento box that mysteriously disappeared from my first-grader’s backpack. When my daughter admitted classmate Audrey had taken it – with the teacher dismissing it as unimportant – I knew this was about more than just a lunch container.
At school the next day, the truth came out quickly when we found my daughter’s name inside the “stolen” bento box. But rather than address the theft, the teacher and principal focused on comforting crying Audrey, even suggesting she keep the box for the day. That’s when I realized this was a teaching moment – not just for Audrey, but for the school staff enabling this behavior.
Watching me dump Audrey’s lunch and reclaim the box gave my daughter something she’d been missing all year: the confidence that her belongings (and by extension, herself) deserved respect. While some might argue I should have just bought a replacement, that would have taught my daughter to accept being walked over. Sometimes the smallest objects become the biggest symbols – we’ll be finding a new school where boundaries are properly enforced.
