It Finally Happened

Alice was forgotten at school today. Not by me. But by the person who was supposed to get her. I'm not going to say who it is, as it really isn't important. Alice made it home fine and was happy and healthy and no worse for wear, so there is no point in naming the person. But I would like to share the experience of it with you all.

Let's start with some background. Ever since I developed a separated pelvis during my pregnancy and starting fainting/passing out, I have had help both dropping Alice off at school and picking her up. It works pretty smoothly for the most part. There are 5 people in total helping me, so that we can always find someone to pick Alice up when the others cannot make it. There are two people that help more often than others. They are lifesavers.

Normally Alice gets home just after 11:20am. Unless whoever is picking her up stops for lunch with her, but that is normally discussed beforehand.

So imagine my worry this morning when I look at the clock. It is 11:39am and Alice isn't home. Right away my OCD mind (and mom mind, I suppose) jumps to the conclusion that maybe something bad has happened...such as a fender bender. (That's as bad as I let myself think this morning, otherwise I would have lost my mind instead of focusing on figuring out what was taking so long)

I decided to call the house where two of my helpers live. I called and asked if Alice was on her way or if they had brought her home with them. Imagine my surprise when they said 'Oh! Alice! I forgot!' See, I had actually thought the OTHER helper was going to be picking her up, so when the phone was answered I really thought nothing of this one being on the other end.

As soon as we both realized what had happened, I called the school. I asked if Alice was still there and heard a terrifying sentence. "I'm not sure. Let me check" It only took two seconds for the secretary to stand up and see that Alice was laying down on the bench, but to be told "I'm not sure" was definitely not a good thing.

I am actually surprised at how calm and even polite I was with the secretary, as I tend to get my back up rather quickly in situations regarding Alice. I mentioned to the woman that perhaps "Hold on a moment" instead of "I'm not sure" would be much better to use in this circumstance. I then asked her why none of Alice's emergency contacts had not been called yet. She explained that they wait until 11:30 to call emergency contacts for half day students.

I pointed out (again, surprisingly polite for someone like me in a panic) that it was 11:45 and I had not received one call. I also went on to explain that because I had not received a phone call, I had assumed that perhaps something had happened to Alice off of school property (such as a car accident) which caused some extra worry that I could have done without.

The secretary apologized and admitted that she was running behind and promised that if, for any reason, she saw Alice sent to the office at the end of the day, she would call emergency contact number one (my number) right away to double check everything. Fair enough.

I was also very surprised that I was not upset with the person picking Alice up. Unfortunately, in the past, this person has been on the receiving end of my quick temper for things regarding Alice that really, I should not have had as extreme a reaction. ie: When Alice was younger I told her no more juice. Then I saw Alice with a glass of juice. Got upset with this person for giving Alice juice and even yelled. This person had no idea I had told Alice no more juice. They just offered her some because Alice had said she was thirsty and normally giving juice was a non-issue.

But to go from yelling over juice to being ok with a temporary brain fart regarding picking Alice up is actually pretty big for me. Even Mike was surprised (I texted him about it all) I'm also pretty sure the person dropping Alice off today was surprised when I came to the door with a smile instead of anger...but I'm glad they didn't mention it haha. (I guess this is that whole 'maturity' thing my parents always told me about)

In the end, I'm actually semi-glad this happened. I got to test out how Alice's school handles the situation, and even custom tailor it to my preferences. Alice was fine and knew that she was in a safe place. She was all smiles when she came home and even laughed about it. Now, as long as we don't make a habit of it, I'm sure we'll forget about this, or at least have to remind ourselves of it so we can laugh over it years from now.