My heart has had a rough week.
Learning of my friend’s cancer diagnosis and 9/11 memorials would be enough for most, but no, God knows I’m capable of carrying big, heavy crosses. That’s why I have so many children, they keep my heart pounding.
Early in the week, I stood outside of our temporary elementary school (our actual school is under complete renovation) waiting for our fourth and fifth graders release. Our 10 year old fifth grader reached me first with a warning that his younger brother got in big trouble today. I throw my head back, looking at the sky, and moan FUUUUUUU—-
I’m interrupted. A fellow 4th grade classmate is telling his mom how my son and another boy (oh good, we’re not in this alone) got in big trouble. Great, we’re gossip fodder.
Wait, I thought to myself, why, if he’s in so much trouble, didn’t I get a phone call report or summons to the office?
I asked my son to tell me what happened quick before his brother reached us. Something, something something, he kicked a ball and hit a window.
Cha-ching. Now I see dollar signs. Grrrrreat.
Our youngest catches up with us and is calm and cool. No concerns, no issues, hurray school’s out. I’m strung out enough at this point to not wait for him to get around to the confession. I said, “So I hear you got in trouble today.” Shrugs his shoulders, “No, no trouble.”
His brother looks at me, raises his eyebrows and shakes his head no.
“Really,” I asked, “You didn’t get in trouble for kicking a ball at the window.”
“What?!” he shouts “[my friend] kicked the ball at the window while he was trying to hit me. I was climbing up on the fire escape and was almost on the roof!”
“What were you doing on the fire escape?”
“[My teacher] gave me permission to go out on the fire escape to get a ball, she didn’t know I would climb so high.” He disclaimed that he didn’t get in trouble for climbing on the fire escape, just for climbing to the top. Brilliant. His friend didn’t get in trouble for hitting the window either.
“Just get in the car.”
I really thought that would be the heart-stopper of the week. No such luck.
My oldest son came home today and said the kid he typically walks home with wasn’t at school today. “Oh,” I said, “did you walk home alone?” He asks if he can talk to me in the other room and we walk from the kitchen to the living room. “Remember that strawberry-blond girl you pointed out to me last year,” he questioned looking sheepish. “She lives down the street and we walked home together. I got her Kik.” “Cool,” I played it off like I meant it.
I am not ready for this. Everybody just slow down.
My collegiate daughter texted me that she saw a video of a woman giving birth today. She wrote, “You will not be getting grandkids from me.”
Fine, no surprise there. School is your bae (before anything else), let’s keep it that way.
My 10 year old is the only one that didn’t tread heavily on my heart this week. Gold star.
multi-hyphenated-me 