They Moved to Guatemala and Left Me here!

BFF's - Mikayla and Emily

Kids are resilient and as a parent, that is much to be thankful for! Our youngest daughter had band practice one afternoon after school when she was in middle school. She had told me about it a couple of weeks earlier in addition to bringing a note home from Mr. Dowdy, the band director reminding the parents. This wasn't typical. They usually practiced only during school hours so I made sure that I wrote it down in my planner to remember. This was in preparation of the middle school's upcoming end of the year concert.
The day of the after school practice had arrived. It was scheduled for 3-4:15. I was sitting at my computer working on some things, kind of like I'm doing now, and at about 3:10, the thought came into my mind that I needed to tell my older daughter to go and pick up the young one at 4:15. Well, that thought stayed in my brain for about 100th of a second. At 4:45 that same thought came back into my brain along with a feeling of panic and from my mouth, the words, "Oh my stars! I left Mikayla at school!"

As quickly as I could, I jumped up and drove to the middle school. The band door was open and there she was, sitting alone, quietly reading a book in the band room. Mr. Dowdy came out of his office and I began to apologize over and over to both him and Mikayla. Even though I felt horrible, he assured me that everything was fine. She had attempted to call several times but had only gotten a busy signal since I had been on the computer the entire time. (Note to readers: That was during the ancient days when we used the phone line to get "on line".) So, after trying numerous times with no luck, she just decided to wait. Mikayla told the band director that we had probably moved to Guatemala and left her here!

I think it's fair to say that the youngest one of our family wasn't scarred for life because of my forgetfulness. As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly, she took that ball, ran with it and used it to her advantage for a while after it happened. Just realize that as a mom you will make mistakes, forget things that you never think you will forget and probably not be nominated for the Mother-of-the-Year Award. That's okay. Hopefully, it will help your kids realize that you aren't quite as perfect as they once thought you were. Most of the time, they will bounce back and love you in spite of your mistakes. I'm living proof.

Love you Mikayla!

P.S. I'm glad I didn't scar you for life.