101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens

ing freedom, but one of them was in for a big surprise. Miraculously, Mr. Grumblebum landed be-
tween the skier’s arms, his feet perfectly on the skis and his hands on the rope. The skier let go, falling
off in fright, but the driver of the boat, obviously, hadn’t noticed for they were heading for the giant
ramp of a ski jump. Mr. Grumblebum hadn’t noticed either because he was still wearing the zoo poo
stew bucket like a knight’s helmet—except it had no visor for him to see out. He shot into the air
like a rocket off a launch pad, the bucket flying off his head, his eyes wide with terror. Somehow, in
midair, he managed to turn his fall into a monstrous belly flop. Ooops, Janey thought, that wasn’t such
a great stunt, and decided it was time to go and collect her skateboard.
Of course, it wasn’t the last she heard about it. As soon as Mr. Grumblebum had stumbled home
and had a shower with lots of sweet-smelling shampoo to wash off the zoo poo stew, he was knock-
ing on Janey’s front door, carefully watching out this time for any skateboards on the driveway. Janey’s
mother invited him in for coffee, but he was already launching into an angry outburst about Janey’s
carelessness and irresponsibility.
“Yes,” her mom agreed, “Janey may have been partly responsible for the ball going over the fence
into your place. Certainly, she was responsible for leaving her skateboard in our drive. However, you
were responsible for not looking, and stepping on it when you were so focused on your anger. We
are all responsible for the things that we do.”
Mom promised Mr. Grumblebum that she would talk with Janey but, in fact, she really didn’t
need to. There were some important things that Janey had already learned.

STORY 67

MAKING DECISIONS

Therapeutic Characteristics

Problems Addressed

■ Indecision

■ Poor problem-solving skills

Resources Developed

■ Learning to ask questions

■ Learning to explore the options

■ Weighing up the pros and cons

■ Discovering how to problem solve

■ Learning to go with considered decisions

Outcomes Offered

■ Consideration of the choices

■ Problem-solving skills

■ Decision-making skills

DEVELOPING SKILLS

Developing Life Skills 165