Guilt. It’s something most every parent feels at one time or another.
My daughter, Kacee, experienced it last Monday afternoon when she got a call from my grandson’s school asking if she forgot to pick him up at school. William, 5, a kindergartner, had been the last kid standing in the car line, so a teacher took him to the office and called Kacee.
Karen Nazor HillThe good news is that the staff at William’s school, Nolan Elementary, knows Kacee and realized that something must have happened. She’s been a volunteer in the kids’ classrooms at the school since her oldest daughter, Tilleigh, 11, started kindergarten there six years ago. Evie, 8, the middle child, is in the third grade at Nolan. The staff was aware that William hadn’t been abandoned, and they reassured the little fellow that someone was on their way to get him.
Turns out, Kacee had forgotten to send a note to William’s teacher saying he needed to ride the bus instead of her picking him up that particular day. The reason? Evie was at home with a stomach virus, and Kacee had been up with her most of the night. By morning, with no sleep, Kacee was exhausted. She forgot to write the note.
Meanwhile, that afternoon, I was in my car at the bus stop waiting on William when I got a call from Kacee asking me to instead pick him up at school. I was helping out because she had taken the day off from work to take care of Evie.