We have a story in my family that is shared regularly, with newcomers and even just as a reason to laugh.

At me.

It is known as ‘The Bun Story’ and it not only causes much mirth at family dinners, it also has some lessons.

The story is:

“When I was about 10 years old there were 2 left over fruit buns sitting on the kitchen bench.

For reasons unknown to this day I took a bite out of one.

Then denied it.

It became a ‘thing’. A ‘thing’ my mum now says she totally wished she had never started.

I recall being lined up against the fridge with my younger sister and brother while being asked ‘who bit the bun’. None of us spoke up.

The longer I didn’t speak up the harder it became to say anything.

Then my brother (who didn’t like fruit buns) was accused directly, but denied it (well it wasn’t actually him!).

Eventually, and it still feels like it went for a long time, we were all punished with no treats for the week.

You might think the story ends there, and wonder why it is so funny… but please step forward with me to a late hour two years later.

Yes,

2

years

later.

Sobbing like my heart was breaking, I went into my parent’s bedroom. “It was me, I bit the bun” I confessed through the tears.

They looked at me in shock for a nano second and then started laughing.

A lot!

And a family story was born.”

So now you know The Bun Story.

And what did I learn from this?

• If you don’t confess right away it just gets harder and harder.
• Having someone else punished for an action you took feels awful.
• If you confess to a relatively minor crime after 2 years people will laugh, a lot.

I encourage you to always own your errors, apologise as soon as you can and never let someone else take the blame.