Saturday, September 18, 2010

In Which I Bring Great Joy to the School Secretary

Days don't start off well when they begin to the sound of a fight between parent and child. Words were spoken, misunderstandings happen, and Friday began with the sound of a yelling child, a slamming door, and stomping feet. I don't wake well at the best of times. My head hurts, my mind moves slowly and I rarely have a smile on my face. The screaming of others doesn't aid the morning grumpies. But I've been praying for a gentle spirit recently. (Ha! Be careful what you ask for...)

I didn't yell. I didn't scream or add any more slamming doors or stomping feet. Instead, from somewhere else, I had a quiet voice and a clear understanding of the situation. I spoke quiet, gentle but firm words to the involved parties, gave lots of hugs, kisses and understanding, while offering up both silent and spoken prayers. Somehow peace came again to my little home. Breakfast was eaten, children were clothed. Two healthy lunches were packed for school. But it was 8:35am and I was still in my jammies.

Amazingly we got to school on time. I kissed my kids and sent them in, walking back home cheerfully with my friends. It was good. I had survived the storm, with flying colours too. Or so I thought....

Around 10am, the phone rang. It was the school secretary. I thought she was calling because Aris was sick, but no, she said she had a favour to ask. Steve is the school council treasurer so that wasn't unreasonable. She asked me to look at the school calendar. Again, slightly strange, but hey...maybe she needed to double-check something. Then it became clear! "Did I send Zane to school on the wrong day?" I asked in a slightly panicked voice. Mrs w. burst out laughing! "YES!!!" She said it wasn't a big deal and that the teacher would keep him. But I was going to be walking that way anyways, so I said I'd pick him up. I felt like an idiot! After getting off the phone, I started crying. I moped for a bit. But then the humour hit.

Somehow I completely failed to notice that there was only one line of children instead of two. I didn't clue in that I didn't recognize any of the other children or their parents. Funnier still, Zane's teacher didn't clue in that it wasn't his day until she did the attendance. Neither did Zane. The other children started talking to him like he belonged there. *I'm laughing hard while I type this* Thankfully Zane wasn't upset, but instead took advantage of this opportunity to make new friends. Since this is Zane's favourite activity, I'm glad he got a chance to exercise this skill.

Needless to say, when I picked Zane up from school, the school secretary, another mom helping and the kindergarten teacher were howling with laughter. I was informed that the secretary was having a very tough day and that she really needed a laugh. She laughed the rest of the day and that evening about my mistake. They had great fun ribbing me at the school movie night that evening. *sigh* But I"m very glad that my mistakes bring great amusement to the staff at the school. And this has to be better than the day I didn't send Aris right? *sigh*

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