Thursday, September 9, 2010

Good days and bad days

Some days are good, some are bad. Some feel bad and then the next day, you realize it wasn't so bad and that makes that day a good day. And then something happens and just poops all over that day. I have just described the last two days. the end.

Oh, you would like me to elaborate? Ok, so here we go...

Yesterday was "open enrollment letter day". I had to get to the Quincy school board bright and early to get my letter in to try get Sophia at the top of the list to go to a different school than the one in our district. I got there at 7.30am. I was rushing and a little irritated that I didn't get there a little earlier (7?). I was surprised there was no line as they told me each year parents line up early to get their letter at the top of the pile. I THOUGHT they opened at 9 and that the person in charge would be there at 8, so with two little kids in tow, I thought 7am would be about as early as I could sit "in line" with them. The thunderclouds were literally forming over our heads and were aptly a true omen. After parking in the $7 T parking lot, I rushed upstairs surprised to find all the doors unlocked and no line. I went right into the office to see there were already 10 people's names on the list at BOTH schools I had letters to try get Sophia into. NOT GOOD. The lady said there was already a line at 6am when she got there. I was so stressed. I thought, gee, I would have suffered through 6am if I knew. Heck, we wouldn't even have had to wait long, just pop our letter into her hand. I had a really rough time thinking about how we are going to have to move as I find it hard to swallow paying for private school in kindergarten. Even harder to swallow having Sophia attend the school in our district. Then it was orientation day at school and BOTH kids were like glue on me. I was so irritable about the school letter thing that their glueiness was extra hard to take. They were literally the only ones that were clinging to their parents. And that was yesterday.

Today, was Sophia's orientation day. Still glue, but not as bad. As she was with her class for an hour, the parents were sent to another room to wait (???). I had a chance to talk to a couple other moms and found out they, too, attended letter day at the school board. One mom said her husband was there at 4.15AM. yes. AM. and he was FOURTH in line! The first people spent the WHOLE night there - 11pm the night before. CRAZY. I started to feel less bad about not getting there by 6am, as that would not have made a difference. Then I overheard her mention something about "no child left behind" law that allows you to insist on your child not attend certain schools. I need more info on this, however, it gave me great hope and I feel better about my options. Though it won't guarantee me into the schools I really want, it might keep Sophia out of the bottom three. So, that was good. We then came home, kids ATE their lunch all up - wahoo! That is really good with our track record. Went out to play for an hour in the yard before nap. About 12.50 a "guy" comes walking up the street. He seemed "suspicious", so I had my eye on him. Then he tells Sophia (who was wearing her flip flops) that she needs to go get shoes on so she doesn't hurt her feet. I don't say anything, just wait for him to keep walking. Then I see him starting to walk up the driveway and I tell him I have things under control and he doesn't need to talk to my kids. "He says sorry, I see you are worried, I'm not a pedophile." Great. I thought he was gone, but then 10 minutes later, he comes walking back and I see him sit on our step at the sidewalk. I hurry the kids in the house and hope he leaves. After locking the front door I see him standing up and obviously requiring great effort to not fall over. At that point, I was kind of hoping he would so I could call the police and have him taken away from our house. He regained balance and then I see him walking up the driveway again, look into the garage, take off his jacket, hang it on the fence... Ok, I started freaking out. I have troubles even lock that side door without my key. So, I do in fact call the police. It felt like FOREVER for them to arrive. Not that I thought I couldn't take him - I am sure I could have just pushed him over and he would have fallen, but I didn't want it to come to that. Sweat was literally rolling down my back. They finally arrived and spoke to him. And then I felt bad. He was definitely on something, however, I started to feel really sorry for him. They asked him if he was on medication or had any needles on him. He was telling them he was diabetic and that he had some pills for anxiety and some other stuff. They asked where he lived. worked and he said with his parents and he was on disability. The more I heard the worse I felt. The officer kept coming over to me and his attitude made me feel even worse for the guy stumbling around our yard. He called him a freak, was definitely using, had issues, etc... I, however, saw that he was more harmless and in need of help. If the kids were not in the yard and if I had more control over the LOCKS in our house, perhaps I would not have reacted with such fear. Just goes to show, you never know the real story. I guess I don't regret calling the police as I was looking out for the safety of the kids and I. He was acting drunk and didn't heed my request to not come in the yard. And he was literally INSIDE our garage when I placed the call. It was the officers job to see if we "needed saving", however, I think they should have realized after questioning that he wasn't up to no good. I feel like a magnet for these kinds of people lately. There is a "wandering girl" who keeps coming into our yard. She lives in the neighborhood, and again, not harmful, just not wanted around. She keeps telling the kids they should do this and that, giving her expert advise on stuff (she watches nanny 911, after all). I have no reason to ask her to leave other than that I am uncomfortable with her around. And that would be rude. Then at the grocery store this old guy, tells me I need to tell Dylan to sit down (he was standing in the basket of the cart ready to scan my next item.). I let him stand while we were not moving and would ask him to sit when on the move. I didn't feel the need to explain all this, and just said that I have it under control. Well, that was not good enough for the old guy. He went on (and on) about how he saw a kid crack his head open falling out of a cart. I tried my best to ignore him, finished our scans, asked Dylan to sit and moved on. So this day that started to climb to a good day, had to crash. And now as I sit, those clouds are once again beginning to loom outside. Literally.

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