Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Waaaa!

I missed M's Fifth Grade Recognition ceremony! On Friday, I asked him when it was (the schedule is messed up because they had to add 2.5 days to the end of the year due to the snow days) and he said Tuesday. I had the camera charged, a nice shirt washed for him, and a bag of toys to entertain E during the event. I couldn't find the latest newsletter, so I didn't get to double check. When I went to pick him up yesterday after school, the sign out front said 6/18 1 PM.

Argh! He was all morose walking to the car. I told him I had no idea, and he was shocked. Apparently the school called "all" the parents to remind them, and my name wasn't on the list of people they couldn't reach. I have no idea what happened, as my cell phone shows no missed calls and I have no voice mail.

Poor kid spent all afternoon thinking I just didn't bother to show up. I'm still sad/angry about this. The kids all sang a song, and then they got certificates, a pin, and a carnation. Then they had a classroom auction with the "money" they earned during the year. M bought a book. He had a bidding war with a friend over it. He said it was pretty fun, but he was still sad about me not coming.

He understands now, but that's not something we can get back. The only explanation I can think of is that his contact sheet was taken out when we changed our address, and never put back. Doesn't explain why they didn't cross-check with class lists, but since I've had calls from both his teacher and the office this year, I know they had the right number at one time, and it hasn't changed. I told him to make sure to tell the school that I wasn't called. Maybe they can come up with a better procedure for next year. And it's a reminder to me to double-check what he says. Ten-going-on-eleven may seem big, but he's still a kid prone to distraction.

I'll have to make do with taking lots of pictures of the last day of elementary school (today) instead.

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