Someone, I don’t know who, once said bad things always happen in three’s (or fours). I shared that little law of the universe with my daughter Thursday morning to put her at ease about the previous days' events.

Monday morning after I dropped the kids off at school I came back home and noticed Sierra’s bike wasn’t where I parked it the night before. Not only was it not where I parked it, either it had rendered itself invisible or it had been stolen.

Later that day my cell phone rang while I was on my noon hour bike ride. It was the school nurse. Sierra had decided to stop a monkey ring from swinging by blocking it with her head, which left her with a sizeable bump and a mild concussion.

On the bright side, I thought maybe with the haze of the concussion clouding her memory I could convince her she was a wee 60 year old lady named Mavis and never had a bicycle. I think it would have worked but her meddling little brother kept calling her by her real name.

Tuesday Mavis had an eye exam and found out she needed glasses, which explained why she didn’t see the metal ring swinging towards her melon the day before.

Wednesday the phone rang at work and the school nurse was once again on the other end. Mavis, reeling from her poor vision, stolen bike, and monkey ring mishap, tripped over someone’s foot on the playground and landed on her wrist. My professional opinion was that there could possibly be a fracture; my fatherly opinion was x-rays, doctor visits, eyeglasses, and a new bike are making for an expensive week.

Listening to my professional advice I opted for x-rays, which thankfully revealed a fracture free little hand. We left the doctor’s office and went in search of a bubble store. Mavis was concerned kids might stare if she showed up to school in a bubble and that it wouldn’t fit through the doors. Taking her concerns into consideration, I compromised and opted for bubble wrap, a helmet, and protective goggles (prescription of course).

The rest of the week was incident free, and she is gradually getting used to me calling her “four eyes.” Just kidding, don’t get yourself in a huff. I’m not sure if she completely bought into the concept that we need bad days to appreciate the good ones.

She did have some good news in the middle of her mess of a week. Out of the 300 students at her school Sierra was one of the 28 chosen by the teachers to be a student ambassador. Student ambassadors are designated students selected to work with the new students. They are selected because of their positive attitude, friendliness, kindness to others, and willingness to help others. Insert picture of proud bragging father here.

This past week was a testament to those attributes. Through all the bumps and tumbles Sierra remained positive and never once let it get the best of her. For that, I am proud of her.

Off to the bike shop.