I took the boy to pre-school this morning. We went early so that his sister, now in kindergarten, would have a chance before class to see her old teacher. The classes are extremely small here so the teachers and students really get to bond. The reunion was touching. The boy immediately wandered off to play in the yard and the girl followed shortly after.

I had just turned my head to follow the boy when I heard a loud thud. Someone had fallen hard on the sand. I snapped my head back in time to see a mother standing, shocked, behind the swing her little girl had just fallen head-first out of; and just in time to hear the same mother panic and shout, “Oh, shit!”

For three seconds, the playground went entirely silent, all eyes on this mom. The little girl was fine. And normal volume and playing had resumed by the time she had been rushed to the bathroom for some washing up. I’m sure she was embarrassed if she even realized what she had done. I don’t think anyone really cared – it’s just not the sort of thing you normally hear on a pre-school playground.

I sat back and saw another mom standing halfway out of one of the classroom doors, child in her arms. She had opened the door to the playground just as all this happened. With a slightly worried expresssion, she turned to me and asked, “Is she a mom or a teacher?”

I was still slightly stunned by events so it took me a second to reply, “Mom.” As I said it, I began to grasp the importance of her question. She breathed a sigh of relief, closed the door behind her, and sat down next to me. “This is our first year here,” she said. And a few seconds later we both started chuckling, then laughing, as we assimilated what had just happened.

Comments

1. pete on 2005-09-13 22:29:51 wrote: parents. sheesh. ;)

2. David on 2005-09-14 08:48:28 wrote: As soon as you have a baby in the house, you’re up to your ears in it anyway, so why all the fuss? Still, I put my foot in it too, metaphorically speaking. Here’s the story: http://raisingchooks.typepad.com/raising_chooks/2005/04/excuses_myself_.html