This is a follow-up to the story Paul and I wrote, "Stephanie, Head of
the Class." Paul is working - in the small spaces between all his heavy
load of school stuff - on his own ideas. They show how Stephanie's career
as a principal's assistant went in the book universe, the universe of the
more behaved Michelle .
This story is for the TV universe, and involves the aftermath of episode 138, "Please Don't Touch the Dinosaur," by Jamie and Chuck Tatham. It's another episode where Danny's actions can be explained a little more logically with the idea that Steph was a principal's assistant like they have in Australia during her 4th and 5th grade years.
PRINCIPAL STEPHANIE AND THE DINOSAUR
Stephanie Tanner, eleven, smiled as she considered the new bike she was about to get. Her dad's best friend, Joey - who lived with the family to help raise Stephanie and her sisters - had had a 1968 Nolan Ryan card in his car all this time. And, now that she'd cleaned out his car, she would get several hundred dollars from it. Her sister D.J., sixteen, and D.J.'s boyfriend Steve would get the same amount.
The Jim Palmer one was probably worth a little, too, though D.J. and their Aunt Becky seemed to value it mostly because Palmer was very good looking. Stephanie was starting to understand why that made such a difference.
You sure did have some cool stuff in there, Joey," Stephanie said. "And, to think that's the same car I crashed into the kitchen when I was eight. It could have paid for the damage itself," she joked.
Joey smiled. The family was always very loving and forgiving. It was easy for them to joke about that incident now, though Stephanie still didn't like to tell people about it. It was still embarrassing.
"Well, Steph, I guess it was just meant to be found now. What do you say we all go out for ice cream. My treat," Joey said. "I'm sure everyone's back from the museum by now." The girls' dad, Danny Tanner, and uncle, Jesse Katsopolis, had taken six-year-old Michelle and her class to the Imaginarium that morning.
At that moment, Jesse walked in the door to the kitchen. "Beck, you know that thing at Aunt Ida's you wanted to go to next Saturday? I won't be able to make it; I'm gonna be workin' down at the museum."
Becky looked oddly at her husband. "Jess, I've heard some weird excuses from you to get out of seeing my Aunt Ida and her family, but suddenly being interested in volunteer work at a museum has to be the weirdest."
Jesse chuckled. He liked to be a macho, tough guy at times. In fact, Michelle seemed to take after him a fair amount, at times, since he and Joey had moved in to help raise the girls almost six years ago. Museum work was not something he would normally do.
However, he explained, "Oh, I just got the craving to start, that's all. Something about that place...well, it inspired me."
Becky smiled. Jesse seemed genuine - maybe it was true. "Oh? Well, okay, I guess. You must have really had quite an experience down there, huh? What made you decide to do this?"
"Oh, there was just something about the tour. The way the kids all smiled, and had fun. All the stuff we learned. The four million dollar dinosaur that got wrecked..." he finished, trailing off very lowly on the last part.
"The WHAT?!" Stephanie looked at Joey. "That's more money than it cost when I wrecked your car."
"A whole lot more."
"Jess, what happened?" Becky asked.
Stephanie's eyes grew as wide as saucers as Jesse explained. "Aw, I let the kids get a little carried away. Then while I was keeping some of my group from being too rowdy, Michelle and her friend Denise started playing tag. Next thing you know, Michelle runs under the ropes and grabs hold of a dinosaur bone, thinkin' it's safe, and it snaps off and the whole thing collapses. Just your typical accident."
"Just your typical accident?!?!" Stephanie exclaimed.
"Wow, how long is she grounded?" Becky asked to make small talk. She was still coming to grips with the fact that one of those enormous dinosaurs had just collapsed.
"Aw, Danny said it was just an accident. He really just blamed me for it," Jesse said as Danny walked into the kitchen.
Stephanie's eyes bulged way out now. "What?! Dad, Michelle destroyed a priceless dinosaur and you didn't even punish her? Didn't even take her dessert away for a couple days?"
"Steph," Danny said lovingly as he put an arm around her. "I know you really do a great job in your role as principal's aide at school. And, maybe this is something that you need to handle, since it was a school activity. You're very good at not only comforting other kids, but at lovingly disciplining them. I'm really proud of you. But, this wasn't Michelle's fault. It was your Uncle Jesse's fault."
"Dad, when I crashed Joey's car into the kitchen, it was my fault, and I knew it."
"Yes, but this is different. This is...well, you actually turned the keys on and pressed a button. And, Michelle...she just ran into something, and she didn't know how brittle it would be."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Dad, don't you get it." She gestured with both hands as she walked a few steps, then turned to face him. "I knew it was my fault. I would never do that again. But, I knew I deserved punished, too. And you grounded me for what, a month? Maybe more? And you made me help clean it up, and you took away my allowance till I was practically nine. I was away from ballet for long enough I missed my recital that year. I deserved every bit of punishment that you gave me."
"And you understand what needs to be done in these cases. If I hadn't felt a little hurt because Michelle wanted to go with Uncle Jesse's group instead of mine, maybe I would have taken something away like that, I don't know. But, you're a neutral right now. And, I know you get excited about everything, just like Mom would. But, you can also put aside your feelings, and hand down whatever punishment you think is appropriate."
"Yeah, look at it this way, Steph. Dad's really complimenting you," D.J. said. Inside, she knew that was the way she had to look at it herself when their dad was too lenient with Michelle, and D.J. had to correct her for her attitude or do something else herself. This was especially a problem with Michelle was younger, though obviously it was again in this instance.
Jesse added that, "Michelle isn't even the one who started it. Denise suggested they play 'tag, and she didn't know if they should. But, Denise said they were in the 'fun group.'" He smiled apologetically. "I know. I let things get way out of hand. And, I told her that. But, at least Michelle was taking her cues from what I seemed to be saying, rather than what she wanted to do herself, like you with the car."
Stephanie began to piece the incident together in her mind, just as she would if she'd been called to the office with a note explaining that a student had done something wrong. "Okay. So...did one of you see it? Or, who told you this?"
"Michelle and Denise both told us," Jesse said.
Danny added that, "They were totally honest, I didn't detect any attempt to mislead us."
"Hmmm, okay. Do you have Denise's number?" Danny promised to get it. "I'm going upstairs to call her mom. Where's Michelle?" She was out riding her bike. "Tell me when she gets in; let her know I want to take care of this now, before school Monday.'
Stephanie got the number, then went up to the room she and Michelle shared. "Hello, Mrs. Frazier? This is Stephanie Tanner, Principal's Assistant. Did you hear about the museum?" She had. "Good. What did Denise tell you? I just want to make sure the stories are matching up."
Stephanie smiled. Denise had told her mom that she was the one who wanted to play tag in the museum. She wouldn't have admitted that if it weren't true. Her punishment would be more as the instigator - even Danny might have grounded Michelle if she had instigated it.
"Okay, good. And, thanks. I'm glad you grounded her - it's great to be able to talk to parents who are willing to work with us." Did Stephanie want to talk to Denise? "Mmmm, just tell her I'll be calling her to my office Monday morning - along with the rest of the group. I need to learn who was doing what in that group first, so I can decide what to do. I'll deal with Michelle today, though."
Once she hung up, Stephanie walked over to D.J.'s room. D.J. was anxiously telling her best friend, Kimmy Gibbler, over the phone about the stretch limo she and Steve would be riding in to the prom. Steve was a senior that year and has invited D.J. to the prom.
Once D.J. hung up, she turned to Stephanie. "Isn't this great? That card's going to mean we split all this money. Joey gets $500 for his share. I get my stretch limo from my share. You get your bike from your share. And Steve can eat for three days from his share." Steve had an incredible appetite. Everyone joked about how he was always eating.
"Yeah. Deej, Denise's mom grounded her for a week, and said she couldn't even have friends over. Shouldn't I tell Dad how she handled it?"
"Steph, I've learned with Dad, you have to pick your battles carefully. And, this just seems like one of those times when Dad is going to just blame the person who should have been watching. I remember when I kept getting on him about correcting Michelle's attitude. Then, he told me he was going to start doing that with all of us, finally. But, then we had a big argument because he was snooping in my stuff, and he raised his voice a lot more than usual. He just wasn't used to trying to correct that stuff - it was always Mom telling us about that. He didn't feel comfortable doing it. So, we made a truce, and agreed to go back to like it was before, except he would just back me up more if I spotted something in Michelle's attitude."
"Which was soon before she said 'duhhuh' to that sub at school last year. Then he sent for me to see if she was really allowed to say that at home, and I bawled her out," Stephanie remarked. That had been the start of her reputation as "Principal Stephanie." "And, she hasn't even said that around home since, and certainly wouldn't at school. I see what you're saying. In other words, it'll work out okay even if he doesn't do anything."
"Right. I might have more work ahead of me, if Michelle thinks she can take advantage of Dad again now. But, hopefully, even that will be eased, with someone punishing her now rather than her waiting till Monday."
Danny poked his head into D.J.'s room. "Hey, Steph, Michelle came in, and I told her you wanted to see her. She's in your room."
"Thanks, Dad." Stephanie turned to D.J. as he left, and said, "Want to come with me? It might be harder, since I've never done this at home." She was used to dealing with problems by now, though, and sounded confident that she could handle it.
D.J. was confident, too. "I'll let you do all the talking, unless I have something really important to add. But, why not? I've heard lots of great things about 'Principal Stephanie.'" She followed Stephanie as she walked into the room she and Michelle shared.
Stephanie closed the door, and D.J. stood near it while Stephanie walked over to Michelle's bed. "Michelle, we need to have a very long talk about what happened at the museum today," she began.
"Is this like the principal's office now?" Michelle asked glumly.
Stephanie smiled. That query showed that at least Danny was backing her up a little. "Yes, Michelle, it is."
D.J. was impressed. While Michelle explained at first that Dad had said it was just an accident, Stephanie was able to get Michelle to realize she should be punished pretty quickly. She was quite loud at times. But, after a very stern lecture, Stephanie sat down and invited Michelle to sit on her lap. Stephanie squeezed her while speaking lovingly, yet very firmly.
"I will help you write your letter of apology to the museum, since you can't write really well. But, as I explained, because you thought you were at recess in a museum, you will think you are in a museum during recess. For the whole next week you will be inside during recess."
"A whole week?" Stephanie glared harshly, and Michelle sighed. Though they were at home, she knew this was much like the principal's office right now. And, Stephanie hated backtalk. "Yes, Stephanie," she said with her head lowered. Stephanie let her get up, and the sisters walked over to the door.
"Stephanie?"
"Yes, Michelle?"
"Why didn't Daddy punish me?" Michelle had known she deserved to be punished. She told herself she should have known it was too good to be true when he totally blamed Jesse. She would always remember that gigantic crash when that whole thing came tumbling down.
D.J. caught Stephanie's gaze - she supposed she was better at this kind of question than Stephanie, since she'd known Danny longer. "Well, Michelle, I guess he just knew Stephanie would do such a good job he wouldn't have to do anything."
"She did." Michelle and Stephanie embraced. D.J. considered that it was the kind of hug she'd seen kids giving the principal all the time when she was that age.
Monday morning, Michelle and Denise met on the playground. "Enjoy this place now. If your punishment's like mine, you won't see it for a while."
Denise's eyes widened. "Whoa. My mom said your sister would want to see me first thing this morning." She thought for a second, and asked, "How is she gonna act? When she was helping with that play, she got on my nerves." She hadn't been sent to Stephanie before.
"Tell the truth. But don't tell her that part. She doesn't mean to hit other kids. But if they talk back too mean, that's when she might do it." Stephanie hadn't had to do that with Michelle - but, that was just because nobody in their family hit. And, the possibility scared Michelle so much, after that first lecture, she made sure she was very respectful. As it was, Stephanie had only given a "reaction swat" perhaps a dozen times in over a year.
"Thanks, I'll remember that."
Stephanie called the part of the class that had been with Jesse into her "office" int he principal's office before school started. Then, as promised, she let Michelle go, announcing she'd been talked to and told her punishment Saturday. She decided to take care of Denise first.
Denise walked into the office while the others waited outside in the hall. She looked timidly up at Stephanie, who stood in front of her with her arms folded. Michelle hadn't said what Stephanie had said or done with her, other than that she wouldn't be going out for recess for a long while. But, Stephanie looked mighty angry. She really didn't feel like saying anything at that moment.
"Young lady," Stephanie shouted, "what in the world made you want to run around like a wild beast playing 'tag' in a museum - especially in a room with a four million dollar dinosaur?"
Her lips barely moved as she spoke. "I don't know. I guess 'cause I wanted to have fun."
"Denise, there are lots of ways to have fun that let you be more in control than you and Michelle and the others were Saturday!"
"I know. I'm sorry," Denise said, lowering her head.
Stephanie thought for a moment. The principal must really be glad I'm around to handle this stuff, she considered, so she can get caught up on all the administrative stuff. Stephanie was glad to see a really good fourth grader was being groomed as such an effective replacement. This was a position that should be continued, the principal had said.
For now, though, something was happening which made her even happier. "You know, I like what you're saying - especially because of what you're not saying."
She gazed up at Stephanie again. "Huh?"
"Denise, I have heard many kids who blame the other person right away. You're not trying to get out of being punished by saying, 'Well, Michelle's the one who broke it.' And, I like that." She glared harder and added, "But you still are going to get a very long and loud talk about how you are expected to behave yourself."
Denise sighed. She knew she'd been bad. As she sat in the timeout chair in the corner sniffling after the lecture, while Stephanie talked to the others who had done less ornery things, she realized that Stephanie was really dealing very fairly with her.
Once the others had been dismissed, Stephanie figured it was time to let Denise out of timeout - the lecture had to have sunk in by then. And, it had. "I'm sorry, Stephanie," Denise said, with a big frown.
"I know. And, I want you to know I'd have been just as hard on Michelle if she'd been the one starting it," Stephanie assured her.
Denise stood at the door to the office for a second. Then, she turned back and hugged Stephanie. Just like Michelle had, and like D.J. had seen students hug the principal when she was young. She could tell this was more than just Michelle's sister. "Principal Stephanie" was tough, but she really cared, and treated the kids with love.
"You're hugging me even after all the privileges I took away, and the stuff I'm making you write?"
"Yeah. You're just like my mom is when I'm bad," Denise said warmly, but with a tear in her voice. And, she and her mom had hugged after the lecture she gave, too. Denise could tell that, like her mom, Stephanie still cared, and would care for the kids in her charge no matter what.
Stephanie blinked back a tear as she hugged Denise, thinking about how much she missed her own mother, and wished she had one growing up. Somehow, she had become like one, anyway. "I'm like a mom? You know, Denise...that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
This story is for the TV universe, and involves the aftermath of episode 138, "Please Don't Touch the Dinosaur," by Jamie and Chuck Tatham. It's another episode where Danny's actions can be explained a little more logically with the idea that Steph was a principal's assistant like they have in Australia during her 4th and 5th grade years.
PRINCIPAL STEPHANIE AND THE DINOSAUR
Stephanie Tanner, eleven, smiled as she considered the new bike she was about to get. Her dad's best friend, Joey - who lived with the family to help raise Stephanie and her sisters - had had a 1968 Nolan Ryan card in his car all this time. And, now that she'd cleaned out his car, she would get several hundred dollars from it. Her sister D.J., sixteen, and D.J.'s boyfriend Steve would get the same amount.
The Jim Palmer one was probably worth a little, too, though D.J. and their Aunt Becky seemed to value it mostly because Palmer was very good looking. Stephanie was starting to understand why that made such a difference.
You sure did have some cool stuff in there, Joey," Stephanie said. "And, to think that's the same car I crashed into the kitchen when I was eight. It could have paid for the damage itself," she joked.
Joey smiled. The family was always very loving and forgiving. It was easy for them to joke about that incident now, though Stephanie still didn't like to tell people about it. It was still embarrassing.
"Well, Steph, I guess it was just meant to be found now. What do you say we all go out for ice cream. My treat," Joey said. "I'm sure everyone's back from the museum by now." The girls' dad, Danny Tanner, and uncle, Jesse Katsopolis, had taken six-year-old Michelle and her class to the Imaginarium that morning.
At that moment, Jesse walked in the door to the kitchen. "Beck, you know that thing at Aunt Ida's you wanted to go to next Saturday? I won't be able to make it; I'm gonna be workin' down at the museum."
Becky looked oddly at her husband. "Jess, I've heard some weird excuses from you to get out of seeing my Aunt Ida and her family, but suddenly being interested in volunteer work at a museum has to be the weirdest."
Jesse chuckled. He liked to be a macho, tough guy at times. In fact, Michelle seemed to take after him a fair amount, at times, since he and Joey had moved in to help raise the girls almost six years ago. Museum work was not something he would normally do.
However, he explained, "Oh, I just got the craving to start, that's all. Something about that place...well, it inspired me."
Becky smiled. Jesse seemed genuine - maybe it was true. "Oh? Well, okay, I guess. You must have really had quite an experience down there, huh? What made you decide to do this?"
"Oh, there was just something about the tour. The way the kids all smiled, and had fun. All the stuff we learned. The four million dollar dinosaur that got wrecked..." he finished, trailing off very lowly on the last part.
"The WHAT?!" Stephanie looked at Joey. "That's more money than it cost when I wrecked your car."
"A whole lot more."
"Jess, what happened?" Becky asked.
Stephanie's eyes grew as wide as saucers as Jesse explained. "Aw, I let the kids get a little carried away. Then while I was keeping some of my group from being too rowdy, Michelle and her friend Denise started playing tag. Next thing you know, Michelle runs under the ropes and grabs hold of a dinosaur bone, thinkin' it's safe, and it snaps off and the whole thing collapses. Just your typical accident."
"Just your typical accident?!?!" Stephanie exclaimed.
"Wow, how long is she grounded?" Becky asked to make small talk. She was still coming to grips with the fact that one of those enormous dinosaurs had just collapsed.
"Aw, Danny said it was just an accident. He really just blamed me for it," Jesse said as Danny walked into the kitchen.
Stephanie's eyes bulged way out now. "What?! Dad, Michelle destroyed a priceless dinosaur and you didn't even punish her? Didn't even take her dessert away for a couple days?"
"Steph," Danny said lovingly as he put an arm around her. "I know you really do a great job in your role as principal's aide at school. And, maybe this is something that you need to handle, since it was a school activity. You're very good at not only comforting other kids, but at lovingly disciplining them. I'm really proud of you. But, this wasn't Michelle's fault. It was your Uncle Jesse's fault."
"Dad, when I crashed Joey's car into the kitchen, it was my fault, and I knew it."
"Yes, but this is different. This is...well, you actually turned the keys on and pressed a button. And, Michelle...she just ran into something, and she didn't know how brittle it would be."
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Dad, don't you get it." She gestured with both hands as she walked a few steps, then turned to face him. "I knew it was my fault. I would never do that again. But, I knew I deserved punished, too. And you grounded me for what, a month? Maybe more? And you made me help clean it up, and you took away my allowance till I was practically nine. I was away from ballet for long enough I missed my recital that year. I deserved every bit of punishment that you gave me."
"And you understand what needs to be done in these cases. If I hadn't felt a little hurt because Michelle wanted to go with Uncle Jesse's group instead of mine, maybe I would have taken something away like that, I don't know. But, you're a neutral right now. And, I know you get excited about everything, just like Mom would. But, you can also put aside your feelings, and hand down whatever punishment you think is appropriate."
"Yeah, look at it this way, Steph. Dad's really complimenting you," D.J. said. Inside, she knew that was the way she had to look at it herself when their dad was too lenient with Michelle, and D.J. had to correct her for her attitude or do something else herself. This was especially a problem with Michelle was younger, though obviously it was again in this instance.
Jesse added that, "Michelle isn't even the one who started it. Denise suggested they play 'tag, and she didn't know if they should. But, Denise said they were in the 'fun group.'" He smiled apologetically. "I know. I let things get way out of hand. And, I told her that. But, at least Michelle was taking her cues from what I seemed to be saying, rather than what she wanted to do herself, like you with the car."
Stephanie began to piece the incident together in her mind, just as she would if she'd been called to the office with a note explaining that a student had done something wrong. "Okay. So...did one of you see it? Or, who told you this?"
"Michelle and Denise both told us," Jesse said.
Danny added that, "They were totally honest, I didn't detect any attempt to mislead us."
"Hmmm, okay. Do you have Denise's number?" Danny promised to get it. "I'm going upstairs to call her mom. Where's Michelle?" She was out riding her bike. "Tell me when she gets in; let her know I want to take care of this now, before school Monday.'
Stephanie got the number, then went up to the room she and Michelle shared. "Hello, Mrs. Frazier? This is Stephanie Tanner, Principal's Assistant. Did you hear about the museum?" She had. "Good. What did Denise tell you? I just want to make sure the stories are matching up."
Stephanie smiled. Denise had told her mom that she was the one who wanted to play tag in the museum. She wouldn't have admitted that if it weren't true. Her punishment would be more as the instigator - even Danny might have grounded Michelle if she had instigated it.
"Okay, good. And, thanks. I'm glad you grounded her - it's great to be able to talk to parents who are willing to work with us." Did Stephanie want to talk to Denise? "Mmmm, just tell her I'll be calling her to my office Monday morning - along with the rest of the group. I need to learn who was doing what in that group first, so I can decide what to do. I'll deal with Michelle today, though."
Once she hung up, Stephanie walked over to D.J.'s room. D.J. was anxiously telling her best friend, Kimmy Gibbler, over the phone about the stretch limo she and Steve would be riding in to the prom. Steve was a senior that year and has invited D.J. to the prom.
Once D.J. hung up, she turned to Stephanie. "Isn't this great? That card's going to mean we split all this money. Joey gets $500 for his share. I get my stretch limo from my share. You get your bike from your share. And Steve can eat for three days from his share." Steve had an incredible appetite. Everyone joked about how he was always eating.
"Yeah. Deej, Denise's mom grounded her for a week, and said she couldn't even have friends over. Shouldn't I tell Dad how she handled it?"
"Steph, I've learned with Dad, you have to pick your battles carefully. And, this just seems like one of those times when Dad is going to just blame the person who should have been watching. I remember when I kept getting on him about correcting Michelle's attitude. Then, he told me he was going to start doing that with all of us, finally. But, then we had a big argument because he was snooping in my stuff, and he raised his voice a lot more than usual. He just wasn't used to trying to correct that stuff - it was always Mom telling us about that. He didn't feel comfortable doing it. So, we made a truce, and agreed to go back to like it was before, except he would just back me up more if I spotted something in Michelle's attitude."
"Which was soon before she said 'duhhuh' to that sub at school last year. Then he sent for me to see if she was really allowed to say that at home, and I bawled her out," Stephanie remarked. That had been the start of her reputation as "Principal Stephanie." "And, she hasn't even said that around home since, and certainly wouldn't at school. I see what you're saying. In other words, it'll work out okay even if he doesn't do anything."
"Right. I might have more work ahead of me, if Michelle thinks she can take advantage of Dad again now. But, hopefully, even that will be eased, with someone punishing her now rather than her waiting till Monday."
Danny poked his head into D.J.'s room. "Hey, Steph, Michelle came in, and I told her you wanted to see her. She's in your room."
"Thanks, Dad." Stephanie turned to D.J. as he left, and said, "Want to come with me? It might be harder, since I've never done this at home." She was used to dealing with problems by now, though, and sounded confident that she could handle it.
D.J. was confident, too. "I'll let you do all the talking, unless I have something really important to add. But, why not? I've heard lots of great things about 'Principal Stephanie.'" She followed Stephanie as she walked into the room she and Michelle shared.
Stephanie closed the door, and D.J. stood near it while Stephanie walked over to Michelle's bed. "Michelle, we need to have a very long talk about what happened at the museum today," she began.
"Is this like the principal's office now?" Michelle asked glumly.
Stephanie smiled. That query showed that at least Danny was backing her up a little. "Yes, Michelle, it is."
D.J. was impressed. While Michelle explained at first that Dad had said it was just an accident, Stephanie was able to get Michelle to realize she should be punished pretty quickly. She was quite loud at times. But, after a very stern lecture, Stephanie sat down and invited Michelle to sit on her lap. Stephanie squeezed her while speaking lovingly, yet very firmly.
"I will help you write your letter of apology to the museum, since you can't write really well. But, as I explained, because you thought you were at recess in a museum, you will think you are in a museum during recess. For the whole next week you will be inside during recess."
"A whole week?" Stephanie glared harshly, and Michelle sighed. Though they were at home, she knew this was much like the principal's office right now. And, Stephanie hated backtalk. "Yes, Stephanie," she said with her head lowered. Stephanie let her get up, and the sisters walked over to the door.
"Stephanie?"
"Yes, Michelle?"
"Why didn't Daddy punish me?" Michelle had known she deserved to be punished. She told herself she should have known it was too good to be true when he totally blamed Jesse. She would always remember that gigantic crash when that whole thing came tumbling down.
D.J. caught Stephanie's gaze - she supposed she was better at this kind of question than Stephanie, since she'd known Danny longer. "Well, Michelle, I guess he just knew Stephanie would do such a good job he wouldn't have to do anything."
"She did." Michelle and Stephanie embraced. D.J. considered that it was the kind of hug she'd seen kids giving the principal all the time when she was that age.
Monday morning, Michelle and Denise met on the playground. "Enjoy this place now. If your punishment's like mine, you won't see it for a while."
Denise's eyes widened. "Whoa. My mom said your sister would want to see me first thing this morning." She thought for a second, and asked, "How is she gonna act? When she was helping with that play, she got on my nerves." She hadn't been sent to Stephanie before.
"Tell the truth. But don't tell her that part. She doesn't mean to hit other kids. But if they talk back too mean, that's when she might do it." Stephanie hadn't had to do that with Michelle - but, that was just because nobody in their family hit. And, the possibility scared Michelle so much, after that first lecture, she made sure she was very respectful. As it was, Stephanie had only given a "reaction swat" perhaps a dozen times in over a year.
"Thanks, I'll remember that."
Stephanie called the part of the class that had been with Jesse into her "office" int he principal's office before school started. Then, as promised, she let Michelle go, announcing she'd been talked to and told her punishment Saturday. She decided to take care of Denise first.
Denise walked into the office while the others waited outside in the hall. She looked timidly up at Stephanie, who stood in front of her with her arms folded. Michelle hadn't said what Stephanie had said or done with her, other than that she wouldn't be going out for recess for a long while. But, Stephanie looked mighty angry. She really didn't feel like saying anything at that moment.
"Young lady," Stephanie shouted, "what in the world made you want to run around like a wild beast playing 'tag' in a museum - especially in a room with a four million dollar dinosaur?"
Her lips barely moved as she spoke. "I don't know. I guess 'cause I wanted to have fun."
"Denise, there are lots of ways to have fun that let you be more in control than you and Michelle and the others were Saturday!"
"I know. I'm sorry," Denise said, lowering her head.
Stephanie thought for a moment. The principal must really be glad I'm around to handle this stuff, she considered, so she can get caught up on all the administrative stuff. Stephanie was glad to see a really good fourth grader was being groomed as such an effective replacement. This was a position that should be continued, the principal had said.
For now, though, something was happening which made her even happier. "You know, I like what you're saying - especially because of what you're not saying."
She gazed up at Stephanie again. "Huh?"
"Denise, I have heard many kids who blame the other person right away. You're not trying to get out of being punished by saying, 'Well, Michelle's the one who broke it.' And, I like that." She glared harder and added, "But you still are going to get a very long and loud talk about how you are expected to behave yourself."
Denise sighed. She knew she'd been bad. As she sat in the timeout chair in the corner sniffling after the lecture, while Stephanie talked to the others who had done less ornery things, she realized that Stephanie was really dealing very fairly with her.
Once the others had been dismissed, Stephanie figured it was time to let Denise out of timeout - the lecture had to have sunk in by then. And, it had. "I'm sorry, Stephanie," Denise said, with a big frown.
"I know. And, I want you to know I'd have been just as hard on Michelle if she'd been the one starting it," Stephanie assured her.
Denise stood at the door to the office for a second. Then, she turned back and hugged Stephanie. Just like Michelle had, and like D.J. had seen students hug the principal when she was young. She could tell this was more than just Michelle's sister. "Principal Stephanie" was tough, but she really cared, and treated the kids with love.
"You're hugging me even after all the privileges I took away, and the stuff I'm making you write?"
"Yeah. You're just like my mom is when I'm bad," Denise said warmly, but with a tear in her voice. And, she and her mom had hugged after the lecture she gave, too. Denise could tell that, like her mom, Stephanie still cared, and would care for the kids in her charge no matter what.
Stephanie blinked back a tear as she hugged Denise, thinking about how much she missed her own mother, and wished she had one growing up. Somehow, she had become like one, anyway. "I'm like a mom? You know, Denise...that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."