He had stepped in to help break it up and protect a friend. He would not face disciplinary action but he should of asked for help instead of jumping in. So while I finished my call, all the ways I would talk to him about it all swirled in my head.
Cruz was in a fight.
It didn't matter to me if he won, lost, who started it, if he was in trouble or not, etc. I wanted to talk to him about it. So I planned we could run an errand, chat, and end with some ice cream (well depending how he answered me... ha).
Cruz was in a fight.
So we went for a drive, first stop was a car wash. On the way I asked him, so what happened... you could tell his heart dropped a little. He started with that he didn't get in trouble, and I told him I know, but wanted to still talk. He told me how it went down, two kids got in a fight, a bigger kid started to hit one of his friends, he tried to stop it, and ended up in the fight. (hit in the eye twice, luckily no black eye).
Cruz was in a fight.
With the car clean, we rolled to Target/Kohls (I needed new flip flops). I asked him, what did he think my first reaction or question would be. He said he thought I would be mad, and I said yeah that would be one reaction, but not my first. He didn't guess, so I told him, my first thing was to know if he was alright. I don't care if he started it, if he finished it, if he won, if he was in trouble or not in trouble. My first thought, was he hurt. I told him I will always care most about if he is okay. Then we talked some more.
Cruz was in a fight.
As we walked from Kohls to Target (found flip flops I like finally) I asked him if fighting sometimes is okay. We had been discussing right and wrong, and he said no, it's not right to fight. So I asked why he didn't get in trouble, well because he was helping his friend. So I asked him again, is sometimes fight right. This is where he floored me, he said, well at that one rally (we go to a lot of rallies but I assume the #BlackLivesMatter event), they said they were fighting for rights, and you agreed with them. He connected those dots, and I said luckily there was not actual fighting at that rally, but asked if he heard about rallies with fighting and he had. So we talked that sometimes fighting back is your only option, so I pulled it full circle, at his camp, he should of called a counselor to break up the fight. What if there was no counselor? What if the counselor didn't do the right thing? What if Cruz was the only person who would stand up and defend his friend?
Cruz was in a fight.
The call a parent doesn't want to get. A chat you know someday you have to have about fighting. Glad we had it when he was 9 and that he wrapped it around current events and that he wasn't hurt (well his eye was a little swollen).
Cruz was in a fight.
It was a good excuse to get a McFlurry on the way home. He did the right thing, he stood up for his friend, he didn't throw a punch but just tried to stop it. Hopefully his last fight, but knowing his competitive spirit, his desire to play sports, it might not be his last. Let's hope they are all as noble, and that I have a few more excuses to get a McFlurry with my dude and chat about right and wrong.