Absence makes the heart beat faster
A slightly edited version of the email SOBUMD received this morning:
Dear Parent or Guardian. This is an important message from Your Elementary School regarding an absence. Please contact your child’s school at 888-867-5309 to discuss the reason for the absence.
Attendance and active participation in class are crucial to a student’s academic achievement and to the opportunity to realize his or her full potential, from kindergarten through high school.
Your child, The Reigning Queen of Pink, was marked absent all day on 3/10/2011.
Since SOBUMD had personally dropped off said child, and had actually witnessed said child entering the school in question, you can imagine that this raised some concerns. She also received an automated call stating same, further elevating her blood pressure.
Before I keep you in further suspense, there was a substitute teacher today. She managed to check the wrong box. No emergencies.
But here’s a difference between myself and SOBUMD: While she did, in fact, have a minor cardiac event, she calmly called the school and sorted things out. She did not panic, fly off the handle, or endanger anyone.
I’m very glad that she’s home with the kids. And not, for example, me. Because I might have been at the school before the automatic call had finished speaking, swords drawn, asking impolite questions of well meaning people and talking very quickly. Someone could have gotten hurt. Probably me, really, but that’s not the point. The point is that SOBUMD is very level headed. And I’m very glad of this.
Since my kid did not get off the bus as expected today – this was timely. I love it. You captured the moment perfectly.