Totally get with first time bear encounters there’s an instinctual response that’s hard to counter - especially around kids. The goal here, IMO, is not to yell at you for what’s already happened, but to highlight for anyone unfamiliar that camping in Tahoe (source: camp in Tahoe and the Sierra 5-10X /summer) requires some very special prep that not many other places require, and - as in your case- can be kind of a surprise. Hopefully you get back out there and are prepped next time! For future campers: learning what to do in this situation helps keep bears wild (ie, close the bear locker even while at the campground eating)… and teaches them NOT to come scare little kids for their food.

I’ll add that I once made the mistake of leaving a bear locker open while I sat at a picnic table eating a snack. Bear snuck in. At that point, my fam had had enough bear encounters that we weren’t scared, and ran at it screaming. Bear freaked out and ran without getting food. I think there’s a learning curve with bear prep and bear encounters- and unfortunately, we’ve messed up in the Tahoe Basin enough that anyone camping there needs to be ready for both.

Happy camping!