Some days I just don't get it. It's weird...I'm working away and around 12:30pm I get a call from my son's school. They said he was running and fell (typical for my son), and that he wanted to speak to me. They told me not to worry, that he's ok, he just bumped his head.
So my son came on the phone and said that he wanted me to pick him up, because he didn't feel well and wanted to "take some rest". Anyone who knows my son knows that he is the human version of the energizer bunny. 'Rest' is seldomly in his vocabulary. He said his head was aching and asked that I please come and pick him up. I spoke again to the teacher who said that he was probably exaggerating so that he could come home. My gut told me that it was unlike him to fake sick, and that since I was working from home anyway, it wouldn't hurt to pick him up and bring him home to rest.
When I got to the school, I called him over and checked his head. To my surprise, there was a small gash, and it was still bleeding. I showed it to the teacher, and she said that "he must have scratched it, because it wasn't like that" when she called me.
I'm not trying to criticize, but there is a very big difference between a gash and a scratch. I'm not trying to blame anyone. My son is totally the type to run and bump his head. When he was three he always had bruises on his legs from running and tripping, falling off his bike, etc. It's not new for him. My concern was that the school was downplaying it, and he clearly needed to see a doctor. What would have happened if I didn't follow my gut and come to get him? I didn't say anything further to them, but I did take him to the doctor immediately.
When I got to the doctors, the nurses said he would need stitches. My daughter was crying hysterically the whole while, as the thought of a needle sewing up her brother was too much for her. She was a total mess. When my son saw the needle, he went into hysterics, and I had to hold him down. The doctor said he only needed a couple of stitches, so there was no time to freeze. (Yikes). I held him down, the doctor stitched him up, and we were set to leave with a big huge bandage wrapped around his head. Honestly, he looks like the kid from the old logo for the Sick Kids Hospital. Huge bandages for a small gash...But anyway, we got home by the end of the work day, and all is well.
The good news is that I was actually working from home today. Had I been downtown it would have taken me an hour and a half to get home. I am very thankful for my luck that these events landed on a Friday. The bad news is, I didn't actually get much work done. Sigh. That's expected I suppose, but I foresee many late working nights this weekend to accommodate. A day in the life of a single mom...
4 comments:
I'm sorry to hear about your son. Look into the matter with the school - not right at all!
Call you this weekend, S
Exactly! I'm not sure what to do about the school. It's a summer program but my ex wanted to keep the kids there full time in September, and now I'm inclined to say no. (I was skeptical to begin with), but given his family's relations to the school, he's wanted to keep them there.
Sigh. Family politics never end...even when you're not part of the family anymore :(
Shaiza,
You followed your gut before, do it again. This time it was a few stitches. What would they do with a bigger issue?
Barb
Agreed. I already had a chat with my ex on Friday when he came to visit our son. I told him that I don't want the children going to this school in September. He disagrees, but I basically said that if he cannot convince me with a good reason around why they should go to this school, my decision around the other public school will stand.
I don't think I'm going to budge on this one. And yeah, for anyone who works with me, expect that I'll be in the office late on Monday. I'm going to be having a chit chat with the school administrators Monday morning about responsibility when a child gets hurt.
Like I said, the issue isn't that he got hurt, children are children and it happens. The issue is how they handled the injury. My son who needed stitches would have been left bleeding until 4pm had I not followed my gut and went to pick him up mid day.
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