Broken Watch

A boy was told by his father not to play with his father’s watch. While his father was away, the five-year-old initially decided he would just “look” at the watch and not play with it. But as the boy grabbed the watch, he put it on his wrist, just like he would see his dad do all the time. He began to play around the house with the watch on his wrist. But while he was running, he tripped, fell, and landed on his wrist and his dad’s watch. The glass face of the watch was cracked and broken; the hands wouldn’t move anymore. The boy was scared. He grabbed some tape, wrapped the watch face to “fix” it, and placed the watch back where his dad had left it. When his father came home, he couldn’t find his son. As the father called and looked around, he found his boy crying under his bed, ashamed of what he had done. This story isn’t unique. Kids have an interesting way of dealing with guilt, sorrow, and conviction of wrongdoing. They try to fix things—unsuccessfully. They hide, lie, and avoid getting into trouble.