The Lesson of the Stump

There once was a tree stump. It didn't look like much from the top. Just another old tree stump to mow around. No big deal.

There once was a boy. A boy who figured he could just forget about grades for a while. A boy who thought, "What's the big deal?"

And then there was a dad. A dad who thought that, indeed, grades are a very big deal. And he was tired of mowing around that stump.

Day One: The lesson on manual labor begins. No picture is available, however, due to the fact that it was dark and the only light provided for the boy was that of a flashlight suspended from a tree branch.

Day Two: The digging and chopping continues. No pictures are available due to the fact that this was a lesson that would not be easily learned. We don't take pictures of the struggling.

Day Three: The digging and chopping continues and the hole gets deeper. Again, pictures are not snapped due to the fragile emotions that coincide with the work. Feelings are hurt as the break times are regulated.

Day Four: Thanksgiving. The boy is thankful for his turkey and day of rest.

Day Five: It rains. All is not lost, though, as the dad makes use of the covered porch to sharpen the axe.

Day Six: The digging and chopping continues and the hole gets deeper and deeper. Today the digging resumed voluntarily. There seems to be a determination that this task can be accomplished. Today I took a picture.

And another one. And yes, the dad has reminded the boy more than once how lucky he is to be digging in sand.

Day Seven: Today would be the day. There was not any digging left to do and the swinging of the axe was limited. As the stump was lifted out (and it took two people to lift it), we stood back to admire the hole. The youngest was the first to notice the shape. "It looks like a heart," she said.

Indeed, it does. "A father's love for his son," I told the boy.

What's the moral of the story? A boy who thought grades weren't a big deal and then when faced with the punishment of the stump, thought it would be no big deal either. A boy who would rather read and draw quickly learned, however, that the stump would be a big deal. After a few hours of digging in the dark, he began to realize that maybe grades were a big deal after all, too. His dad asked him if he now understood why a good education was important.

The boy replied, "Yes. So I can pay somebody else to dig up my stumps."

Lesson learned (and his picture proudly used by his permission).