218, 220, 233, 222, 224, 226 Where Am I ?

This evening I had the wonderful experience of returning to high school. It was such a pleasure to walk the locker-lined halls in search of the room number that held an overenthusiastic teacher waiting patiently to share his/her “words of wisdom” for high school freshman. What a joy to sit in a hard wooden desk and watch the clock until the bell signaled our 5 minutes of freedom. Then to roam the packed hallways and use the half-door stalls in the restroom before getting lost looking for the next classroom on the schedule.

YES. I am being obnoxious!

I did return to high school, although only for 2 hours. Tonight was Cynthia’s open house at Butler. Now, I am absolutely concerned with how my children are doing in school and totally interested in seeing their work, but open house on a Monday night from 7-9pm did not spark my enthusiasm. With half of our family feeling a little under –the-weather (and the other half soon to follow, no doubt!), soccer practices, church events, homework and housework; the last thing I wanted to do with my evening was to sit in a high school classroom. I did it ONLY because Cynthia asked me to.

Wait a minute. . . Don’t be too impressed with her desire to introduce me to her teachers. She had an ulterior motive. EXTRA CREDIT. Yes, the teachers had promised the students extra credit if their parents attended the open house. What a way to boost attendance. How many parents can refuse a child who wants extra credit so bad that they will risk their parents embarrassing them or, better yet, finding out how many times they have already been in trouble this school year! And how could I complain about that borderline grade on the report card without feeling guilty about the missed opportunity for easy points! Yes, I had to go. There was no choice.

I only got lost twice (and had to call Cynthia once for directions—HOW EMBERASSING!), but the tardy bell never caught me in the hall. Although none of the teachers had any work to show us, it was interesting to get a feel for Cynthia’s day and overall it wasn’t a horrible experience. I do have two suggestions though. The rooms need to be re-numbered. (Hence, the title of this entry) When the teachers assigned to the hallway to “help” with directions can’t figure out the number system after 3 years there is a problem! And parking is ridiculous. It should never take 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot.

When I returned home at about 10pm the kids were all in bed (what a blessing!) but of course, nothing else was done. Dishes piled in the sink and on the counter. No school clothes picked out for the next morning. Half-finished homework papers lined the couch (and they tried to tell me they didn’t watch TV while they did it, YEAH RIGHT!). And I still had homework to get done. The best thing is- it’ll all be there in the morning! So, as I medicate myself and prepare to climb into bed I can’t help but to remind Cynthia

“YOU OWE ME, GIRL!”