I had a feeling today was going to be a race against the clock. We needed to drop off her Dad at the airport and rush back to school before 12:35. I managed to get her there at 12:32, and I felt like a parenting superstar!
For the next couple of hours, I tidied up the house, pottered around, and, honest to goodness, relished the peaceful quiet, occasionally interrupted by the gentle coo of Baby. At 2:35, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so I let it ring. Honestly, I enjoy letting my phone ring because “Clara” by The Piano Guys is my ringtone. I danced, sang to Baby, and got back to my cleaning.
A few minutes later, the phone rang again. Same number. A nagging thought crossed my mind that it might be the school, calling to let me know that Kid was feeling unwell and needed to come home. She hadn’t been at her best yesterday, but I thought she was doing better.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Kelly?”
“Yes.”
“This is Sara from Elementary School. I have Kid here. She’s waiting for you to pick her up. Today is a common day, so school let out at 2:15.”
My heart sank. “Oh no! I’m on my way!”
I hung up, quickly strapped Baby into her car seat, and cursed the traffic as I sped toward the school. I could picture Kid sitting in the office on a hard chair, her little head drooping, swinging her feet back and forth, utterly crushed that Mommy forgot her.
Upon arriving at the school, I swung Baby onto my hip and hurried into the office. To my surprise, there was Kid—cheerfully helping the office staff clean and apparently having a blast.
After a brief moment of confusion—wondering why she wasn’t sulking as I had envisioned—I rushed over and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea! Are you alright?”
“Yep!” She pointed to the drawings she’d made for the office staff while finishing up a chair cleaning task.
“She’s quite the artist,” Sara smiled at me. “Don’t worry; you’re not the only parent who forgot today was a common day.”
“So… what exactly is a common day? I’m still getting the hang of this whole school thing.”
“It’s an early release day due to parent-teacher conferences. The next one won’t be until February.”
Mental note: remember to pick Kid up early in February for those conferences.
“Oh, did we receive an email about it?”
“Yep, the principal sent one out the other day.”
Right. The one email I didn’t bother to read because the subject line was “Parent-Teacher Conferences.” I’d already seen so many emails and flyers saying kindergarteners wouldn’t have conferences. Classic.
And then I noticed it—the yellow note pinned to Kid’s shirt. I definitely knew today was October 8th. The time for pick-up was circled (as if I didn’t know she was a PM student… they must really not trust me).
Wait… school started an hour earlier today? My proud moment of getting her to school on time this morning turned into a complete #momfail.
Oh, and the note on her shirt? Apparently, it wasn’t humiliating enough to not know when I needed to pick her up and get a call—one I initially ignored—letting me know she was in the office, cleaning.
I get it, though. If they put notes in her backpack, there’s a good chance she wouldn’t remember to give them to me. That’s why they send emails. At least they didn’t circle it in red ink.
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In summary, juggling parenting, school schedules, and everything in between can be a wild ride. Sometimes we all miss the mark, and that’s okay. Just remember to read those emails!