Worst Parent Ever

Today, I confess to being the worst parent ever!  I’m sure it’s not the first time, I’ve said that and it won’t be the last! So here’s what happened.

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The carpets at church are being cleaned today so I didn’t have to go into the office. I was so looking forward to getting some much needed errands run. First thing on the agenda was mailing the church newsletter. Gotta love that bulk mail is only accepted between 10 a.m. and noon. So I figured the Post Office would be my first stop, then I would bust out the rest of my errands.

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The Husband has class tomorrow and we have booth sales for Girl Scout cookies, so today was THE day to get stuff done. No sooner had I walked out of the bulk mail office when my phone rang. It was the girls’ school. I muttered a few choice words before cheerfully answering:

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ME:  Hellllloooo!

SCHOOL: Hi Joyce! This is Bernie.

ME:  UH-OH! What’s going on?

SCHOOL:  Well, I’ve got your Little One here in the office. She’s got a headache and is very teary-eyed. I didn’t even bother to take her temperature.

ME: Well, she gets migraines and then throws up, so don’t get too close!

SCHOOL:  Okay , good to know. I’ll just have her lay down until you get here.

ME:  I’m in Santee right now, but I’ll head the direction. Be there in about 15 minutes.

SCHOOL: No problem we’ll see you then.

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I know you are thinking what’s the problem? You’ve done nothing wrong. And you would be correct. I truly was in Santee, in the Post Office parking lot to be correct. And I did immediately head back towards home to pick-up the Little One.

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The problem is that I made a slight detour before heading to the school.

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YES! I admit I went to Starbucks first. Don’t judge me. I have several errands that needed to get done today. Now I have a sick kids on my hands. I desperately needed the caffeine fix in order to prevent my own migraine.  So I went to Starbucks. As soon as I got my iced white mocha, I headed for the school.

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It had been about 20 minutes since I got the call. I was starting to feel a little guilty. Side note:  What are the odds that the lady in front of me ordered TWO drinks and the guy in front of her ordered FOUR drinks? C’mon people! I’ve got a sick kid to rescue from school!

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So I park in front of the school, walk in the office door and hear a pathetic, “Mommy, uhhhhhhhhh” coming from the far back corner where the nurse’s office is. I see the Little One slowly trying to sit up. I started back towards her, when one of the nice ladies in the office says, “she just let it go.”  I tried to ignore her. The she said, “Joyce did you hear me? She just let it go.”  I admit I giggled a little and muttered an “I’m so sorry.”  She laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

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I mean certainly she is not the first kid to puke in the nurse’s office. That’s why they have a nurse’s office, right?

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At that point I felt a little more guilty for going to Starbucks. I convince the Little One to lay back down while I took the slip back to her teacher to let her know that the Little One was coming home with me. I went to Ms. Bernie to get the magic release form and couldn’t make eye contact. I again said, “I’m sorry” as I took the slip and headed out the door. She also said, “don’t worry about it.”

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I might have giggled a little more as I walked to the classroom. After all, I escaped one round of puke and I had Starbucks waiting in the car for me!  Yes, I am horrible. I know it. You don’t need to judge me. And yes, karma will get me in the end. But for just one moment all was good.

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Round two of puke has come and gone. Now we wait and see how long this joy lasts.  {And if anyone from school is reading this, don’t you dare tell Ms. Bernie that I stopped at Starbucks first!  😉  }