The years passed, and soon Jason was in third grade and Susan was in second. For the most part, Jason was a stellar student. He loved nothing more than math and science, and his teacher adored him. One day a fawn named Cece approached him.
"Hey, Jason, will you be my partner?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, Cece, but I already promised I'd work with Nicolai," he responded. Nicolai was a polar bear.
"Ugh," Cece said.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked.
"He's a predator," Cece responded. "Wouldn't you rather work with one of your own?"
"Predator?" Jason asked. "My Daddy and little sister are predators!"
"Oh, my god, I'm sorry," Cece said.
"It's okay," Jason said.
"That must be so horrible living with two of them," Cece continued. Jason's eyes widened, and then he tackled her and started hitting her.
"Jason Bogo!" the teacher yelled, "You should know that sort of fighting isn't allowed in the classroom. I'm honestly surprised at you."
"But Cece was insulting predators!" Jason said.
"Cece, you shouldn't insult predators," the teacher said. "But Jason, you shouldn't have gotten physical."
"But… but…" he protested.
"No buts, Jason," the teacher said. "Do I have to call your parents in?"
Jason kicked the ground and exhaled in annoyance.
Meanwhile, in the classroom next door, Susan was showing all the boys in her friend group a cool scab that she had obtained attempting to roller-blade. "Wow, that's awesome!" one of the boys around her said.
The teacher, who was older and more traditional, said, "Susan, you should act like a lady."
"Who says who a lady should act like?" Susan asked, "My parents and Aunt Judy say that I should be myself."
"Well, you should… within reason," the teacher responded, picking up a phone and dialing.
Papa picked up. "Chief Bogo, ZPD," he said.
"Yes, this is Mrs. Zebes, Susan's teacher. And I think I need to have a talk with you about her behavior," she said.
Papa sighed in exasperation and said, "I'll be right in." He buzzed the front desk and said, "Ben, can you let any officers know I'm out of the office for now?"
"Actually, I was just about to head out myself," Daddy responded. "Jason's teacher called about a problem with his behavior."
"Oh for the love of…" Papa said. "Alright, fine. I'll get some of the other officers to manage. You take care of Jason, I'll take care of Susan."
"What's wrong with Susan?" Daddy asked.
"The same thing that's wrong with Jason, apparently," Papa responded.
"Oh, really? The same day?" Daddy asked.
"Yeah…" Papa said.
"I don't understand how our children could be in trouble," Daddy said, "They're such sweet little angels."
"I agree, and yet…" Papa said. "Alright, see you soon, kitten."
Daddy and Jason looked nervously around the room as Jason's teacher walked in. "Ah yes, I've called you in here to talk about your son's behavior," she said.
"So I heard," Daddy responded.
"He got into a fight today with a fawn, Cece Deauregarde," the teacher said.
"Jason got in a fight?" Daddy asked, astonished.
"Yes, I wasn't expecting him to either," the teacher said. "But sadly…"
"Daddy, she was saying predators were bad," Jason said. He started to cry. "Even you and Susan."
"Oh," Daddy said, holding Jason close. "Jason, sweetie, it's not that I don't appreciate you looking out for your sister and me, but violence isn't the answer. You're smart. You're very smart, just like Papa. And do you know how he deals with mammals who say things he doesn't like?"
"How?" Jason asked.
"He tries to prove them wrong," Daddy said, "Using words. Not fists."
"Oh… okay," Jason said, "So the next time that Cece or anyone else says something bad about you or Susan I should just call her an idiot?"
"Well, no," Daddy said. "You should probably steer clear of the parts of Papa's vocabulary that I don't use until you're older."
"Oooh," he said. "So I should just tell her that the predators that I know are very friendly and awesome?"
"Yes, exactly," Daddy said. He held Jason tighter.
The teacher was astonished. "Who are you?"
"Umm, Benjamin Bogo, Jason's father?" Daddy responded.
"I mean, how did you manage to get him to listen to you?" the teacher asked.
"Daddy's so nice and trusting, we'd never disobey him," Jason said.
"Of course," the teacher said. "Well thank you, Mr. Bogo." He giggled in response, and then took Jason out.
Meanwhile in the other room, Susan's teacher said, "Mr. Bogo, I've called you in to talk about your daughter's behavior."
"What has she done?" Papa asked, rubbing his forehead.
"She… well, she isn't acting ladylike," the teacher said.
"What?" Papa asked.
"You know, she's acting brash and loud and…" the teacher said.
"Are you saying girls have to act like my husband? Oh, oops, that probably means you think my husband also has to act like me and everyone would simply be a carbon copy," Papa said.
"Oh, your husband," the teacher said.
"Yes, my husband. In case you've forgotten, that is very much a thing that can happen now," Papa said, "Or are you insinuating that we are unfit to raise a female child because we surely must be the reason she's as 'unladylike' as she is, is that correct? Well, I hate to burst your bubble but Benjamin is the most 'ladylike' officer at our precinct that does employ several females and could have easily taught her that behavior if that's what we thought was important, but it's not," Papa said.
Susan admired Papa's resolve.
"You let my daughter express herself the way she wants to, okay?" Papa asked. "As long as she's not attacking other students or breaking the rules that apply to every single student, then you've got nothing on her."
"Wow, Papa, you are so cool," Susan said. "I want to be just like you when I grow up!"
"You are so very much like your Aunt Judy," Papa said.
Daddy and Jason ran into Papa and Susan as they walked out of the room. "Oh, hello, Jason," Papa said, kneeling down, "What happened?"
"I got in a fight but Daddy told me not to hit mammals who say stupid things, so I won't anymore," Jason said.
"I see," Papa said. "Well, Susan's teacher was just an idiot who thought she wasn't being 'ladylike' enough."
"Seriously?" Daddy asked. "Then I'm really glad she called you instead of me."
"And considering Jason did do something I cited as an actual bad thing, it's probably a good thing his teacher called you instead of me," Papa said.
"I'm sorry, Papa," Jason said.
"It's okay, as long as you listen to Daddy and don't do it again," Papa said, kissing Jason on the cheek.
"Well, we should get back to work," Daddy said.
"Yes, let's take the kids with us too," Papa said.
"Okay," Daddy said. And they did.