I was ready.
Ready for the routine to be back in full effect. Ready for my kids to say goodbye to summer camps and hello to the classroom. From talking with my other mom friends, it was clear they were eager as well. We all felt like not only were we ready and anxious, we were prepared.
That’s a good feeling as a mom. But if your kids’ first week back to school was anything like mine and that of some of my close friends, then you are likely left praying that it only goes up from here.
Here are my top ten mom fails from the first week of school. No, I am not making any of these up.
1. Driving into a ditch in the carpool lane at school. With the kids in the car. Holding up the entire drop off line. With the principal standing there.
In the rush of morning drop off, my friend thought she had found a quicker way to get through to drop her first grader and preschooler off. She soon found why nobody else was veering that way in line- because that way took her straight into a ditch. Wheels spinning she finally was able to reverse out but only after holding up the entire line and causing the principal to literally walk over and knock on her window to check on things. I can feel myself turning red just thinking of that happening!
2. Forgetting your kids’ lunches. On the first day. Some of you are thinking, that should be the kid’s responsibility. I agree. But it just simply isn’t a good start to the year to leave it at home on the first day. I laughed hard when my friend then said how her “Happy First Day of School” note was opened on day number two since day one resulted in a cafeteria lunch.
3. Thinking extended care was open until 6:30pm. Getting a call at 6:02pm asking where you are because it closes at 6pm. Oops. Enough said.
4. Bringing your 6 week old to grab some school supplies at the store for your kindergartner. Grabbing the wrong (empty) cart and then realizing yours is 10 aisles away with your purse in it. Thank goodness your baby was strapped to you in the Ergo.
5. Sprinting to make it to pick up on time and causing a mini scene. Park and dash is my daily motto since we have to physically pick up our kids versus a carpool line up. As I sprinted down practically shouting, “I’m here!” I realized that my heels were loud on the pavement and that several moms were left looking up at me like, “who is this crazy lady running at us?”
6. Being too tired to help with homework. On the first day of school. With your first grader. This could be seen as a fail. But I think the true fail is giving homework out on the first day of school.
7. Deleting an email about being the “class parent”. One way to get out of being a class parent is to mistakenly delete the email. When asked if you received it, you can genuinely say you didn’t. Meanwhile, another parent may have been selected. Oops, oh well. Maybe next year.
8. Showing up at dance class at the wrong time. The first week of school involves getting so many things organized. We can’t also be expected to show up to extra curricular activities at the right time.
9. Getting locked in your car. Sometimes we have random notifications go off on our car dash. We tend to get to it when we get to it. But in the case of my friend, hers indicated the battery was dangerously low. It then went completely dead. Luckily her kids were already dropped off and she was on a road with a big shoulder so she could pull over. She was then literally trapped in her car because it was locked up with no windows or doors being able to be opened. There is a reason God created the person who created cell phones.
10. Being told your after school sitter is too young to pick up your kids. For us working moms, it’s often impossible to pick up our kids from school. Some of us hire people to help with this. My friend hired a fifteen year old student at a nearby school to walk over and get her kids each day. Until the school somehow found out they were only 15 and informed her that a person must be 16 or older.
What’s the funniest thing that happened to you once school started up again? We hope some of these make you know you are not alone in feeling the stress of the season!
