A Tantalizing Tuesday

Getting a phone call at work from my mom was the last thing I expected. I was expecting it to be our social worker with the address for me so that I could get our paperwork in the mail! Why would my mom be calling me? I started to panic wondering what happened to my child. Visions of her falling off the trampoline and breaking an arm or a head injury were involuntarily dancing through my mind as I heard the voice on the other end telling me that my two year old daughter had stuck a raisin in her nose! Immediately I felt my adrenaline racing, nausea sweeping over my body, as I tried to continue to teach and come up with a plan to be there for my daughter. It was almost recess and we decided that she would bring Addy to me at work so that I could assess the situation. I brought them to my classroom to call the advice nurse and I took a better look, much to the displeasure of my squirmy princess. As I looked up her nose with the assistance of a flashlight there it was... her prized raisin stuck in her nose! So armed with my new information I called the nurse and set up an appointment. Then came the agonizing decision of who was going to take her. I wanted to drop everything and take her myself! The urge to bail was so strong! But taking a deep breath I realized that Grandma and Daddy could handle it and I really needed to save my sick days for when baby number two comes along. Even though it was the right decision it was painful and agonizing, and not the decision I wanted. I know Addy was well taken care of and it was a short appointment. I saw her at lunch and she was happy to see me and boasting of her trip to the hospital!

During all the hospital drama I got that long awaited phone call from our social worker! I answered the phone with a room full of 16, yes 16! Special day students! I heard the first line of the address and then the voice on the other end was gone. Iphones are notorious for dropping calls, which I never experienced till THIS conversation! Of course I couldn't call back! What were my students supposed to do? So again I make the agonizing decision to press on and put my personal life on hold so that I could be the best teacher I could be in that moment. Sigh... will anything go right? I did call back at lunch, voicemail. She called back when I was with students. This time I let her go to voicemail and now the address is safely stored on my phone and on a piece of paper. After waiting for 25 minutes with a student who's parents were late picking him up there was no time to make it to the Post Office, so my precious delivery will have to wait yet another day...