Day 55

My mother insists that I came home from kindergarten one day and said, “I need a reindeer costume by tomorrow for the school play.” And that she was up “all night” working on a costume.   That Kindergarten presentation is one of my earliest memories (although very vague) and I seem to remember wearing pajamas with feet as the central portion of my costume.

So for years, based on the reindeer costume family lore, I believed I was a disorganized kid that was lucky to graduate to first grade.  Now as a parent, I look back at that story with a different viewpoint.  What teacher would rely on a five-year old as the sole communication relay for something like a costume?  Wasn’t there any back up method like a note or a phone call?  My mother used to walk to the corner and meet me after school.  In theory, Mrs. Need could have just shouted the message from the classroom window.

Now, almost 40 years later in the age of voice-mail, email and text messaging, I am finding some things about parent teacher communication haven’t changed much.   My oldest daughter, who is going into fourth grade, is enrolled in a summer program through our school district where they write and publish their own book.  She has been signed up for this program for at least six weeks, maybe longer.  The DAY BEFORE the class started, I got an email time stamped at 9:48 PM that said the kids must bring a snack, wear sunscreen and, oh yeah…bring a jump drive.  Really?

So, I  dismissed it, figuring I would give her one of the half dozen we always have hanging around in various drawers.  The next morning was pretty busy and I forgot the whole issue.  So, when my daughter came home that night, she was worked up about her lack of flash drive.   I bit back my annoyance at her teacher and told her, no worries, she would have it for class the next day.

Well, at about 11:00 PM, I remembered the USB.  And do you know, I couldn’t find a single flash drive–anywhere.  I emptied drawers, pockets, purses, backpacks and even checked the dog crate and the toy box.    Well after midnight, I was frantic.  I couldn’t buy one of course, so I drafted an email to send to a couple of local friends who might have one I could borrow.  I followed this by formulating a complex plan to get it picked up before 8 AM

I actually lost sleep over it.

Pretty small item to cause me so much consternation

The next morning, right before I was going to deploy Operation Obtain Memory Stick; I found one.  It was in the center console of my car and TECHNICALLY belongs to my employer.  But, desperate times lead to desperate measures.  So, I spent the next 40 minutes transferring about a gazillion files to my laptop for “safekeeping” while she borrows it.

I would like to say I have some grand lesson learned that will help me avoid these problems in the future.  But, I guess during The Simple Year, there is always the possibility there will be forces outside of my direct control I’ll have to deal with.