Robo Learns to Say Sorry

Robo was the newest pupil at Maple Hill School. He was a shiny silver robot with blinking blue eyes, and he was always in a hurry.

“Reading time!” called Ms. Lane.

Robo zoomed across the classroom to the reading corner, whirr, clank, whirr, and CRASH!

He had knocked over Mia’s block tower. Blocks tumbled everywhere.

Mia’s eyes filled with tears. “I worked on that all morning!”

“It wasn’t my fault,” said Robo quickly. “The tower was in the way.”

Mia turned away. Robo’s circuits began to buzz in a strange, uncomfortable way. He did not like this feeling at all.

At lunchtime, Robo asked Ms. Lane, “Why do my circuits feel buzzy?”

Ms. Lane smiled kindly. “I think you might need to say sorry. A good apology has three steps. First, say what happened. Second, say sorry. Third, try to make it right.”

Robo thought about this very carefully. Then he rolled over to Mia.

“Mia,” he said, “I was rushing, and I knocked over your tower. I’m sorry. Can I help you build it again?”

Mia looked at Robo for a long moment. Then she smiled. “Okay. You can hold the blocks steady. Your hands don’t wobble!”

Together they built the tower again, block by block. Because Robo’s hands never wobbled, this time it grew taller than ever before, almost up to the ceiling!

Robo’s circuits stopped buzzing. Instead, they hummed a happy little tune.