and then we got down the street and ran into this:
we got through most of that traffic and over to the new school campus where we encountered this:
after an hour and fifteen minutes, marissa was safely dropped at the front door of her school. i was unable to walk her in out of fear that i'd have to go and get back in the line-from-hell, in the not-so-odd chance there wasn't a parking space. mari is a trooper and hopped right out and went inside.
i was still feeling really positive and frankly, energized, back on a routine again. by this point however, dylan was asleep. i drove straight to his school where i sat for 40 mins until he woke up and it was his drop off time.
after dylan was safely inside, i went to the gym. my heart rate monitor said today was my long work out - 125 mins of cardio. i got that finished and trotted off to tjmaxx to pick up some new skivvies for the kids. then i was off to target for a few grocery items.
i picked up dylan and beetled home to get a few things done before leaving again to get marissa. i knew it would be busy - since this morning was such a mess - so i decided to leave a full 50 minutes before her scheduled pick up time. upon arriving at the school i again found this:
i sat in place, without moving for almost an hour. i finally found my daughter and arrived back home only a short 2 hours and 15 minutes after leaving. are you kidding me?? the school has some serious traffic issues to resolve. there is no bus system and either the school grossly underestimated the traffic generated when 1800 students are let out within a 1 hour period or parents are not reading their literature about pick up and drop off. seriously people - i spent well over 4 hours in my car today, just going to and from the kid's schools.
by this point, i'm feeling rather disenchanted. i grab mari's backpack to check out what she's done for the day and discover her name, scrawled across her backpack in permanent marker. to fully understand the wrath that ensued...let me back up...
mari and i spent time picking just the right backpack for school this year. i wanted to get a nice one online, have it monogrammed, the whole bit. the whole point of monogramming for me, is that your kid isn't walking around with their name in bleeding ink, haphazardly blotted on the backpack. all told, the bag wasn't cheap. so when i saw the permanent marker, scribbled in no particular place, i flipped!
ok, admittedly i'm a little OCD, neurotic, perfectionist...whatever you want to call it. sometimes i like things to be 'just so'. this type of blatant desecration is practically enough for me to call the police! i just felt so violated!! i was even more enraged to discover the same messy script on the lunchbag...especially since i had taken great care to put her name on the lunchbag with saucy silver sharpie - legibly, and may i say, cutely - in just the right spot...not splattered across the top.
marissa was clear that her teacher was the one who did the writing. i wrote her teacher a nice, but stern letter, requesting to know if/why and an explanation. she and i are meeting tomorrow. this teacher has been teaching for 32 years now. i just don't get it. why not request families more clearly label their bags? i would have gladly attached a legible (probably laminated - yes i have my own laminator, thanks mom!) tag, clearly visible to her bag. *ugh* such blatant disregard for things dear to my heart.
so.....ok, and here is where i apologize for being so prideful -
my children are in perfect health.
we did not have to evacuate from a hurricane.
all of my limbs work.
we live in an amazing country, attend amazing schools, belong to the true Church.
my husband has a good job.
i drive a dependable car.
i'm blessed with amazing friends and family.
i got my temple recommend renewed.
and i had my hair done today.
my point is that my challenges today were minor irritations compared to what others may suffer. so i'm gonna get up and give it a go again tomorrow...
6 comments:
I would have been pissed about the name scrawling too! Seriously - have some respect! You could totally send home a nice note and request names be on the bags. Besides unless it is a duplicate backpack why do they need their names on it anyway, they know it is theirs!
yes....i agree...quite annoying! but i do love your perspective in the end!
angie...you are a wonderful writer....perhaps YOU should write a book! seriously i LOVE your blog....entertaining!
I'm still stuck on the part about you making chocolate chip cookies before 7am? Really? That is very cool. Sorry about the traffic rodeo/circus/farm? I don't envy that part of your day! I will definitely be staying tuned to hear about your meeting with Mari's teacher--Kate, since she was 3, has always rejected anyone's offer to let her use a permanent marker. I must have been really convincing when we had that "talk" about(NOT)using them! Her teacher told me many times last year, "she still won't use one, even if I tell her it's okay." Maybe you can have that "talk" with the teacher and be equally effective! I love your regular updates, Anj!
Way to keep a fresh perspective...BUT I would be PISSED beyond ANYTHING if my kid's teacher had done that. SERIOUSLY...I would be DEMANDING for her to pay for a new backpack and lunch bag. I'm so worked up for you that I don't think you even need to be mad. Grrrrrrrrrr! And your being upset doesn't constitute OCD...the fact that the teacher wrote her name across her backpack is vandalism as far as I'm concerned!!!! Sometime teachers who have taught for so long are just bitties. (sp?)
OK, I'm getting all caught up with the posts... and I would be SO upset about this too... first with all the traffic and time spent sitting in the car (what a nightmare) and then to find the brand new backpack totally scribbled on! I think you're awesome for the perspective you have in the end, but I also do think it was a total disregard for your/Mari's property to do what she did.
I forgot you had a blog...and boy can you blog girl! Thanks for posting a comment on mine so I could find yours. I love the traffic pics...I really get the sense of stress there. I think I'll stay on the East side. And I agree with you on the Twilight series--a bunch of hype. They just dragged on and on and one. Read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I loved it!
Post a Comment