Rotating Children

I was chatting with the Principal of the Squidlings school the other day, thinking that she had no idea who I was (since I've only met her once or twice) and we were quipping about their rotten trip coordination - the sixth grade leaving the day the eighth grade returned. The timing, you see, does not give parents a child-free night. She sympathized and then I shared a story about Little Squid.

Seems that about 15 minutes after I dropped him off for his trip, he realized that he had forgotten his hat. This led to a typical Little Squid reaction and a cell phone call to me -- who could do absolutely nothing about the situation as the buses were leaving in 15 minutes and I was at work. And his hat was at home. He was not just upset. He was, to quote the Principal, inconsolable. Little Squid tends to go over the top on the rare occasions when he loses it.

Apparently the situation had come to the Principal's attention and she solved it much the way I think I would have done ... she gave him a school hat.

Had I not started randomly quipping about bad timing I would not have known that. Certainly not before Little Squid returned and possibly not ever. Makes me like their Principal more than I already did. And I really like her.

But enough about my younger child.

As the buses rolled up to the school ... and then down the block and around the corner ... I followed to try to catch sight of Squidette. I found her, and she found me, and I followed the correct bus to it's final resting place.

She was one of the last kids to disembark and, quickly, grabbing her bag (which had been unloaded from the bus by the Principal -- told you I liked that woman) came over to me. My comment? "Boy I missed you!" Where upon a teacher shouted at her to remember to tell me what happened today.

I made a quick assumption and said "Oh, I heard about it on the radio," referencing the shooting at the national Holocaust Museum. "No, not that," she replied, "I got dehydrated." Yeep!

Her teachers spotted it before it got too bad and got water in to her in sufficient quantities to stave of further problems. Phew!

Her class, by the way, had visited the museum in question the day before so they were nowhere near it when the shooting occurred. And, n the whole, she had a blast (on the trip -- the museum was somewhat depressing, as it is wont to be).

I try to be blase' whenever I send my kids out into the world but really, I am so very glad when they return home!

Pick up for Little Squid: 3:00 PM today.