Rowan's Roller Coaster

Rowan's Roller Coaster

"Oh no!" Rowan throws back the covers and runs to the window right as the school bus pulls away.

Rowan stomps down the stairs to the kitchen where his parents are. Rowan crosses his arms and starts to pout.

“I MISSED THE BUS!!” Rowan yells while stomping his feet. “Hurry, you have to take me, NOW!”

“It’s ok Rowan, I will take you. Go get dressed and brush your teeth.”

Rowan gets dressed, and while brushing his teeth, toothpaste falls onto his shirt. “Ugh! What else could go wrong?”

Rowan goes back to his room to change his shirt again. He throws his dirty shirt on the ground and quickly puts on a new one.

Rowan is in the backseat with his arms crossed and his eyebrows scrunched together. Mom, noticing her son's frustration, says, “Rowan, sweetie, take a deep breath; try not to let being late ruin your day.”

Rowan and his mom arrive at school just in time for the bell. He gets out of the car and runs up the steps, looking back to wave at his mom. When he turns back around, he runs into another boy, Ben, and falls, skinning his knee.

“I’m sorry, Rowan, are you okay?” Says Ben. Rowan, now turning red in the face, yells at Ben, “Why did you do that? You’re so stupid!”

Getting up, Rowan stomps the rest of the way up the stairs and turns toward the nurse’s office. Ben follows behind.

The door opens and the school nurse asks “Hi Rowan, what can I do for you?” Rowan huffs out, “Some jerk pushed me down, I missed the bus, my knee hurts, and I’m bleeding!”

“That looks like it hurts, Rowan. Let’s get you fixed up!" “Ben is soooo STUPID!” Yells Rowan

Nurse, while cleaning his scraped knee and applying a band-aid, says, “It sounds like you are having some big feelings today. Would you like to talk about it? “No!” Scolded Rowan The Nurse, startled by the response, exhales slowly and responds calmly with, “That’s ok, will you try something else to help your big feeling not feel so big?

“ Ok, great!” she says. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it, count 1…2…3…4. Ok now blow all of the air out until you are empty. Count again 1….2…3…4. Now, let’s do that again. Rowan does the deep breathing a few more times.

With his eyes open and his hands at his side, the nurse looks at him and says, “Feel better? Did that help your feelings to calm down?” “Yes, thank you,” Rowan calmly responds.

"Tell me how you are feeling now, Rowan." "I am frustrated that I missed the bus and got angry when I was pushed," Rowan explains.

The nurse then asks "I understand why that would make you angry. Do you think Ben meant to push you down?" "I don't think so. Ben tried to apologize to me when I fell, but I was just so frustrated."

“How do you think Ben felt when you yelled at him?” The nurse asks softly. “He seemed sad,” Rowan said with a frown

“You should talk to Ben about what happened. Ask him how he felt when you yelled at him, and maybe tell him you are sorry."

Rowan leaves the nurse's office to find Ben looking at the ground. Rowan slowly walks up to Ben and quietly says, "I'm sorry, Ben"

Ben looks up at Rowan and says, "I am sorry, Rowan. I didn't mean to push you. Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I feel much better. I feel bad that I yelled at you. I know you didn't mean to push me," Rowan responds. Ben smiles. "It's all good, Rowan. Let's go back to class now!"

Rowan and Ben walked back to class together. Ben throws his arm around Rowan’s shoulder, and they decided to play together at recess.

Rowan's big day at school has come to an end. He is ready to go home and tell his mom about his new friend Ben.

While Rowan's mom drives him home, he exclaims, "Mom, I made a new friend! His name’s Ben." "I am glad you didn't let this morning ruin your day, sweetie," Rowan's mom replies happily.