… and it’s only round one.
Today I got to wear my ‘worst mother in the world’ hat.
Geek boy’s chess thing is today. The bus left school at 8.00 to transport the team across Brisbane. (How did I miss this information?) I dropped him off at 8.15, as usual, with a kiss and a wave.
I am home less than 30 seconds (and it’s a 15 minute drive) when the mobile chirps. It seems there is a very distraught boy in the office who missed the bus.
Righto, since I am already in the running for mother of the year, I’ll head back and collect him and drive him to other side of Brisbane High School. Guilt pangs as I hoon head back to the school.
~ Now let me interject here for a minute. I abhor lateness and am always up my family for tardiness. This morning, after my shower, I put on my oldest daggies and thongs. I never leave the house in bogan shoes, unless I know I am to be one of the great unseen. When I unlock the car and park my rear, I am met with a warm wetness and a distinct smell of mushrooms. Oh look, the sunroof was left open on my CRV. And it stormed here last night. Intensely. So I am in my daggy house pants, oldest pool singlet, wet hair lathered in conditioning treatment combed through and no make up, bogan shoes (thongs) but that’s all OK, because it’s not late and I have time to drop him off at school and have a leisurely cup of tea, open up the car in the sun, take out the floor mats and then do something with self to face the world proper. ~
Back to the matter. Still looking like someone from a housing commission, I hoon back to the school in my wet car and race to the office, where reception eye me dubiously. She tells me that geek boy is down in the library with two other boys who have missed the bus. If parental permission is attained, would I consider taking the other boys as well?
Seeing this as an opportunity to redeem myself in front of my son, I am graciously quick to affirm that indeed, I would be happy to to do. So by 9.45 , I have three 11 year old boys in wet car smelling like mushrooms (the boys and the car, I think) and I am zooming across town.
An hour later, the repercussions of being a bad mother come to haunt. I have no choice but to walk through a hall and yard full of high schoolers, my wet hair now dried, plastered to my scalp on the crown and frizzy ends, thong bogan feet, house clothes and all. Only the profuse thanks and looks of gratitude and appreciation on the face of my 3 charges stop me from slinking red faced back out the way I came.
The whole procedure ate 3 hours out of my morning.
The rest of my day will be spent finishing the celebration guilt chess cake.
It must be someone else’s turn to wear the hat.
Oh, I hate days like that, they leave an awful pit in the bottom of my stomach. I FEEL for you. Mind you, the celebration cake is most impressive so I’m sure your Best Mother In the World hat will be able to be worn this arvo. And the other mothers (of the boys who missed the bus) will think you a saint!
Oh, I would vote you Mother of the Year! We are only human! And things like these make great stories for your boy to regale his children with! My oldest was very excited about a field trip her class was planning to Catalina Island. But the alarm malfunctioned….You never saw such frantic scrambling ! We finally arrived at the school as the bus was JUST beginning to roll out of the parking lot. She made it, by the skin of her teeth. It is one trip she doesn’t have to dig too deep to remember!
You ended up the hero! Congratulations.
Bravo!!! Great story… hold your head high girl!!!
Hope your young man did well…
That cake looks awesome!!
:-)
BB
And hugs for the previous post…
Was it mean that I laughed at you? It was a laugh of recognition, I promise! My version of this event would have involved me being bra-less (not pretty, believe me) and barefoot.
That is a Killer Cake!
oh, not a misdeameanour at all, but a useful tool…..
tell them that if they misbehave or display disobedience, you will walk through THEIR school dressed like that. Like I did. In swimmers and a towel. and goggles.
Works a treat.
Ack! Sounds like something *I* would do! I always seem to miss the vital info on the school notices – that’s IF I even get the school notices! LOL
And while I loved the sunroof on my CRV, I was always a little paranoid about leaving it open overnight…..
Glad you were redeemed in the end and the celebratory cake is AWESOME!
Wow. You should join in Bettina’s Screw Up Tuesday :D Poor thing!!! *hugs*
Bigger wows over the cake, though. That’s awesome! *droooooool*
LOL That’s what I was talkin’ ’bout honey. When my mum was doin’ the menopause thing, I would shake my head in wonder, then watched you doing it to me……… Now, Oh Joy, welcome to the warm & fuzzy world of the the the Oh you know what it is. Luv you possum.
Ooops. But you redeemed yourself and the cake looks awesome. You go mother of the year.
Check mate!
June also in Oz
Oh I feel your pain..but the cake – my god! I’d vote you Mum of the Year. p.s. I wish my husband would tell me which Sunday mornings his mates are coming to collect him for cycling. He’s always running late, but me, never being told ,am always slopping around bra-less,feeling saggy, wrinkled, with my brain half-out. “Hi!” they say cheerily “Is he ready yet?”. If I’m on to it, it’s a Sunday when he’s ready, out the door and they’re meeting in town….like I said, feel your pain.
Sorry, I’m still chuckling softly to myself, that I’m not wearing the hat!
How good does the guilt (oops chess) cake look? Damn fantastic I think!
Snort. I had a little giggle. But only a horrified one of, been there, done that. Hair in need of a wash, big zit right on the chin, PMS pants, thongs with toes in need of a serious pedi. And all the other Mom’s looking like they are ready for a nice luncheon meet-up.
Love the guilt cake! Are those real chess pieces or are they fondant?
Holy cow! Look at that magnificent cake! Gee, if that is a cause of forgiveness to your son, then I don’t know what is….
LOL What a horrid thing to happen!
And, of course, there’s not a single second in which there’s any opportunity to change clothes of dunk your head under a tap anywhere…ahuh, been somewhere similar , many years ago …;)
Love the cake :)
I am sorry, I laughed as I have been there. Murphy’s law – and darn the school for their lack of communication.
Hey Shirley,
NO one said being a mom was for Wusses- You rose to the occasion and saved the day.. I bet those boys thought you were the most wonderful mom in the world to save their chess match.. The cake is terrific too- They will remember how you saved them… Hope you get a chance to just hang out and relax with that missed cuppa…
Regards,
Anna
Thanks for the best laugh of the day. Why am I laughing? I can imagine myself being in your precise shoes! I’ve made a mental note to learn from your experience (as I have doting preschoolers presently who will grow to not wanting to acknowledge my presence in public) but know I will do something similar in the not so distant future!
You rose to the occasion and did good! What a great story you’ll have to tell him when he’s older and will appreciate it!
I don’t think that’s a bad mother thing. I think that level of embarrassment can only be endured by someone who is a good mother. Way to go – hold your head up high!
Checking in briefly on your site again …but cannot stress enough how awesome that cake is !!
Awesome cake. Awesome mom.
*slinks off before hat is handed this way*
oh dearie me …. so you are just human after all …. your boy is lucky to have you regardless … a mother who cares enough to leave the conditioner in her hair and just make it better …. le
It’s a fine line between showing that you are human and stuffing up completely.
I somehow, apprently missed a school open day yesterday which had the small boy wondering where on earth I was. Sigh.
*passes the hat on*
Good for you! perhaps this story will resound in family history through the ages, or just be another page in the endless saga of life never being dull. although sometimes dullness would be ok!
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