Getting home yesterday after picking up my daughter from school, we see Max dragging himself down the sidewalk from his bus stop. He's moaning and clearly miserable.

I tease him by saying he needs to moan a little louder - then demonstrate with my own loud moans. So the dude moans louder. He hands me a note from the school nurse. He had an accident in gym class and there's a big bump on his temple.

We get in the apartment and he slowly starts to chill out. After 30 minutes he actually starts talking a little. I guess he and another kid klonked heads together and Max got the bump to prove it.

But the story doesn't end there. I got a message from his teacher:

• I just wanted to let you know that poor Max had a rough day today but he handled it all really well. First he had a kindergartener (who is a sibling of one of the boys in my class) spit on his orange sweatshirt and hit him. He did great and just let me know instead of taking the matter in his own hands! YEAH!!!! So she got a behavior slip and her mom was notified. I sent his jacket home in a plastic baggie in the backpack. You will want to wash it I’m sure! (I talked with the mother and she said to apologize to you for her.) Then the poor guy ran into another student at PE time. They bonked heads so you will see a little bruising by his eye. They iced it down and there is a notification of the injury in his back for you. That is the crazy day. So give him BIG props for handling the situations in such a mature way! Have a great weekend

It's good to know that he doesn't always act out when frustrated. I really appreciate the teacher letting me know

Maybe we'll go out to his favorite restaurant to celebrate his excellent handling of a really bad day.