DSP-- Megan: Runaway Meggie

Kyle returned home from work and was amazed not to find Meggie waiting for him. The sitter confirmed that she had been unusually quiet since coming in from preschool and was upstairs in her room. She didn't appear to be sick, she said, just unusually quiet.
After showing the sitter out, Kyle headed upstairs to investigate his daughter's strange behavior change. He found Meggie curled up on the window seat in her bedroom, staring out the window. She looked so sad that he was momentarily taken aback. Then he noticed the note on her dresser. It was addressed to him and Kayley. He could only imagine what it said.

"Hey honey." He said, sitting on her bed and watching her.
"Hi Daddy," she mumbled, continueing to look out the window.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked softly. She turned to look at him then.
"Talk bout what?" Her eyes were huge and worried. Whatever was wrong, must have been bad. She looked awfully worried.
"Whatever it is that is making you so sad. I want my happy Meggie back. What's wrong baby?" He asked as he moved over to the window.

Meggie looked up at him, blinking back tears. "I gotted in trouble and you is gonna be mad at me."
Kyle knelt down next to her (he didn't fit on the seat) and looked at her. "Is that what that note on your dresser says?"
Meggie nodded sadly. "Uh huh."
"You want to tell me what it says? Or do you want me to go read it first?"
He asked her. She knew that he'd rather hear it from her but it was her decision.
She looked down at her shoes. " I jus gotted mad."
"You got mad? About what?"
Meggie looked up at him then. "This boy that comes in after kiddiegarten. He's bigger than me. And he always picks on me, Daddy. He says I's too little to be 4 and he calls me 4 eyes. And that ain't nice is it?"
Kyle sighed. He knew how kids were. And Megan was easy prey. She had been premature at birth and was still much smaller than other kids her age. Even most of the 3 year olds at her pre-school towered over her. And to top it all off, she had to wear glasses. And with that bright red hair that she had gotten from Kayley, there was no missing her. While in his eyes she was cute as button, her size and her eyes made her easy target for a child looking for someone to pick on.
"No, angel. That wasn't nice at all. What did you do about it? Did you tell Miss Matt what happened?"
Meggie shook her head sadly. " No, I didn't. I telled him to shut up and then he still didn't. So I kinda bited him and then kicked him." Megan looked almost proud of that announcement. " And he cried. And he's a big kid, Daddy. Almost 6!"
Kyle groaned inwardly. He could understand how she felt, but he didn't want her to think that this was an acceptable way to deal with other children. "Then what happened?"
Meggie's face darkened when he asked that. "Well then Miss Matt sawed what was going on. And her telled me to go to time out. And I telled her no." Her voice trailed off at the end.
"You told you teacher no?" He asked disbelieving. That didn't sound like Meggie at all. She merely nodded her head in answer.

"Why did you do that? You know better than to talk back to your teacher. You should always treat grown ups with respect, Megan Elise."
"Yes Sir." She said quietly.
"What happened then?" He was almost afraid to ask....
"Well I 'cided to go and get in the corner even though it wasn't fair. But I had to miss recess cuz of how I talkeded to Miss Matt. And her sended you a note about my atta.....atta somefin. "
"Attitude?"
"Yeah that." Megan nodded. "Her sayed that I had a bad one of those today."
Kyle sighed. "Did anything else happen?"
Megan, luckily shook her head. "No, I comed up here when I gotted home. I knowed that you was gonna be mad wif me. " She looked up at him sadly.

Kyle pulled her up into his lap. "Well , I'm not happy about what you did, baby. You know better than to kick and bite. I know you do. And you definitly know better than to talk to your teacher like that. I think that maybe Miss Matt was right. Maybe you do need some time to think about what happened today. " He stood up and carried her over to the corner where her time out chair sat. He sat her down next to it. "You need to sit in your chair for awhile and think about what happened and then we can talk about it some more. OK?"
"NO!!!! I don't WANNA sit in my chair. I already gotted in time out!!!"
Megan stomped her little foot.
Kyle looked down at her, momentarily surprised. She didn't usually push this much. Mischevious , yes but she usually wasn't downright defiant.

"I think you definitly need to think about your behavior, little girl." He turned her around and smacked the seat of her shorts. "And I think you had better sit down and do it right now."
Meggie walked to her chair then and kicked it. Glaring at Kyle, she threw herself into the seat. With a huff, she started swinging her feet. Thump, thump , thump.....they hit the wall.
Kyle waited a second and then walked over to her. "You are about to get your little bottom spanked. I'm trying to have patience with you because you had a bad day but its rapidly running out. The next time you hit the wall with your feet, you will be over my lap. Got it?"
Megan stopped swinging her feet and glared at the wall. "I got it." She muttered.
Kyle shook his head, wondering what had come over her. But everyone had a bad day now and then. Maybe she'd calm down now... He watched her for a few minutes as she sat quietly and then decided to go downstairs for a second. When he came back, they would discuss what had happened that day and what she should have done. Assuming her attitude had improved, if not, then he'd have to take more drastic measures.
Megan meanwhile, was staring quietly at the corner and stewing. She was so mad! Miss Matt hadn't listened to her, now Daddy hadn't either. And that kid was mean. He deserved it!
The more she thought about it, the more unfair it was. None of the growd ups were listening to her side. That big kid was MEAN. Sniffling, she decided that if her daddy wouldn't listen, she'd just make him wish he had. Quickly, she got up out of her time out chair and grabbed her bear off of her bed. She had some cookies from her snack sitting on her bedside table and she stuffed those in her pocket. Running away was probably hard work, she'd need food. Slipping quietly down the stairs, she heard Daddy on the phone wif someone. On tiptoes, she headed out the back door. She slipped quietly through the gate and out to the sidewalk.
She vaguely remembered how to get to Sammie's house. She knew her friend would help her hide til her Daddy wanted to listen to her. She had that big playhouse in the backyard. It would be just perfect for hiding out in. If she could just remember how to get there.
She followed the sidewalk to the end of the block and then saw the stop sign. She wasn't allowed to cross the street without an adult. She sat down by the big tree at the corner to think this out. She didn't want to break the rule about crossing streets. She would be in BIG trouble if she did that. She guessed she would just wait until a grown up needed to cross. Then she wouldn't break the rules and she could continue with her running away.

Meanwhile, Kyle had gone back up to check on Meggie. He was glad that she had quieted down. He really didn't want to have to spank her . Maybe he wouldn't have to. Pushing the door to her room open, he discovered that she was missing. He checked in her closet and under her bed, her favorite hiding spots, then he noticed that her bear was missing. Running downstairs, he found the backdoor ajar. Surely, she wouldn't have left the house, he thought. But then again, she was mad and she had Kayley's temper. Anything was possible.
He headed down the street. As he neared the end of the street, he saw a familiar head of red hair sitting beneath it. He almost ran to the tree.

"Megan Elise Stephens! WHAT are you doing here?"
Meggie looked up, alarmed. Daddy was right in front of her and he looked upset. "Well I was umm I was uhhhhh" Suddenly running away didn't seem like such a good idea. Daddy looked so worried. "I was runnin away. I was goin to Sammie's house." She tried to explain lamely.

She looked up at Daddy, who still looked so worried and disbelieving. He knelt down and hugged her to him. "I was so worried about you, Megan. When I couldn't find you in the house, I had no idea where you might be and what might have happened to you."
Meggie started crying then. She felt awful for scaring her Daddy like that. She had just been so mad and she had wanted him to feel a little bit bad but not this much bad. She was ashamed of herself for making him worry like that.
"I's sorry. I was soooo mad. You wouldn't listen and Miss Matt wouldn't listen. And that boy was mean, Daddy. And nobody cared." She sobbed into his shoulder.
Kyle picked Meggie and her bear up and began to carry her towards home. He didn't say anything to the crying child in his arms as they walked. He decided that it wouldn't hurt her to think about what she had done for a while.
Finally, the reached the house. Kyle carried her to her room and sat down on the bed. Looking down at her, he tilted her little face up to look at him. "First of all, Megan, I am sorry that I didn't listen more. I do care that that boy was being mean to you and its unfair for you to have to put up with that. I talked to Miss Matt and she is going to make sure that it doesn't happen again. And she is sorry that she didn't listen to you better also."
Meggie nodded, surprised that the grown ups were admitting that they did something wrong too. But somehow she had a feeling that them messing up would be enough to keep her out of trouble.
"Now even though I admit that we should have listened more carefully, is hitting and biting other people ever the right thing to do, Megan?"
Meggie shook her head. "No sir."
"Thats right- its not. You should have told Miss Matt or another teacher that he was bothering you instead of trying to deal with it yourself. You deserved to be sent to time out at school for kicking and biting someone- no matter what the reason. Do you understand that?"
Meggie nodded. She decided that saying too much would not help her case any so she kept her mouth shut.
"The second problem you had today was telling Miss Matt no. And then you did it again when I tried to put you in time out here didn't you? Are you ever supposed to talk to a grown up like that?"
Meggie shook her head. "No sir."
"I don't think I have to tell you how I feel about you talking back and being disrespectful. That is NEVER allowed. No matter how mad you are." He looked down sternly at Meggie. " And finally, you ran away. That was very dangerous,Megan Elise. You know better than to go outside by yourself, much less take off down the street alone. And Sammie's house is a good 10 minute drive from here. What if a stranger had grabbed you? What if you had wandered into the road and been run over? I was so worried about you- anything could have happened. "
Meggie tried to look down. She sniffled pitifully. "I's sorry Daddy. I know I shouldn't a runned away."
He looked down at her and sighed. "I know that you are sorry baby, but i'm afraid that you are going to be even more sorry before long." With that he pulled her shorts and panties down and pulled her over his lap in one swift motion.
Meggie wriggled and kicked her feet. "Megan stop fighting....it will only make it worse."
Megan stopped fighting but started crying even before the first smack. The noise scared her more than the initial pain. Smack! Smack!! Meggie started crying in earnest then.
"I do Smack!! not ever Smack!! want to catch you Smack!! biting or hitting Whack!! Whack!! anyone ever again. Smack!! And you will Smack!! not talk to Smack!! Whack!! ever talk to an adult Smack!! that way Whack!! again. "
"I wonnnnn't" Megan sobbed.
"I hope not. "Kyle answered. He stopped spanking with his hand and reached for the hairbrush.
"Daddy noooo brush." Megan sobbed.
"I want to make sure you remember this, Megan."He said picking the brush up again. "You will Smack!! not Smack!! ever Smack!! ever Smack!! run away again. Smack!! You could Smack!! have been Smack!! hurt or Smack!! kidnapped. Do Smack!! you Smack!! understand me?"
"Yesssssss" Megan sobbed. She was laying still now, too worn out to fight. Kyle sat the brush down and rubbed her back for a minute. Then he sat her up on her feet in front of him. Megan cried and rubbed her aching bottom.

He let her cry for a minute and then tilted her chin up again.
"Megan , I love you very very much. If something ever happened to you I don't know what I'd do. Don't ever do that again."
"I w-won't." Megan sobbed. Kyle took her in his arms then and hugged her tight. She knew that it was all right and she was safe and forgiven. She cried into his shoulder until she fell asleep. Kyle tucked her into bed safe and sound.