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Dad Eats One of His Kid’s Candy Bars, Not Ready for Picture Son Sends Him
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. When a father of two decided to treat himself to one of his son's candy bars, he could never have predicted how the 8-year-old would react.
Dion Chavis, from Raleigh, North Carolina, runs an institutional consulting brand that helps early childhood programs and K-12 schools build father engagement into their daily practice.
He's the proud father of a 22-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son, and he loves being a dad.
"One of my favorite things about being a father is the conversations I have with my kids," Chavis told Newsweek . "I could be having the worst day ever, and talking to them can completely turn my mood around."
Seeing his children come into their own has been a delight for Chavis. "They are both really smart and caring people, so just watching them navigate life at its various stages really brings me joy," he said.
Chavis recently got a taste of how his son, Maceo, handles adversity after deciding to help himself to a Twix bar the 8-year-old had been saving.
"My son started eating chocolate about a year ago, and Twix has been his go-to candy for the last three or four months," Chavis said. "But over the last few weeks, he hasn't really wanted them as much. He had opened a Twix but didn't finish it. There were two left in the package out of four."
At around 11 p.m. one night, Chavis started craving something sweet. That's when he spotted the opened package of Twix.
"I thought it was safe to eat because I left him one in the pack," Chavis said.
"I figured that, at worst, I could just grab him another one from the store the next day before he even noticed it was gone, but I was wrong."
Chavis was hanging out with Maceo in his room the following day when his son asked about the missing Twix. Chavis immediately became nervous. He hadn't replaced it yet, so he had to come clean.
"He was shocked and started holding back tears," Chavis said. "After a while, he told us he was going to his room. He walked in, closed the door, and stayed there. I knew he was upset, but I didn't know how upset."
After about an hour had passed and Maceo still hadn't come out, Chavis went to check on him. That's when he noticed a drawing on the floor outside his son's bedroom door.
Art can be an effective tool for helping children express their emotions .
A 2020 study published in Frontiers in Psychology reviewed 37 studies involving children and adolescents who participated in art therapy. Researchers found that activities such as drawing, painting, and other forms of creative expression helped young people communicate emotions that were difficult to put into words.
Art therapy was also associated with improvements in a range of psychosocial outcomes, including emotional expression, self-awareness, coping skills, and reductions in emotional and behavioral difficulties.
The review concluded that art provides a flexible and supportive way for children to explore feelings and experiences in a safe environment, particularly when words are hard to find.
Maceo had left his father a picture of a sad face. While Chavis found it cute and amusing on one level, especially since his son had told him just a day earlier that he was the "best daddy in the world," he understood that Maceo was trying to communicate some difficult feelings.
So he decided to give his son the chance to do exactly that .
"We sat down and talked about it," Chavis said. "He told me he was upset that I didn't ask him before he went to bed if I could have it."
The conversation turned into a positive moment for both father and son, with Maceo successfully working through what, for him, was a difficult situation.
"It really boils down to consent for him, and I am thankful that he was able to express his feelings to me through the drawing and also with his words," Chavis said. "It shows me he is learning emotional intelligence at a young age."
Though Chavis can still see the humor in the situation, the drawing Maceo created will always mean a lot because of what it represents.
"I am definitely going to keep it and show it to him when he gets older," he said. "I've learned my lesson, and I won't be eating his Twix bars without asking from now on."
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