I'm a chicken...

with my head cut off, or at least that is how I felt yesterday. I had an experience right at the beginning of the day that affected the rest of the day, and caused me to feel like I wasn't prepared or thinking straight!

Normally I leave my house each morning between 10 'til and 5 'til 8. Yesterday morning I got a phone call at 7:45 with Denise on the other end. I could tell that she was sobbing and something was terribly wrong. I could also hear Denise's three little girls screaming/crying in the background. Denise wanted to know whether I could come over and help her, she had fallen and she needed someone who could calm the girls down and help her. I told her that I would be right over.

When I pulled into the driveway, Taylor was standing in the middle bawling. Denise was in the garage, wedged under the suburban. She had fallen down the 2 steps between the house and the garage floor when she was trying to get lunches packed for school. She was sobbing, and the 3 little girls were all around her crying/screaming as well. I scooped up the toddler and started trying to soothe her. I also asked the bigger girls to go into the house and finish getting ready, and then to hop in the vehicle. While they were doing that, I tried to convince Denise that she needed to get a doctor to look at her leg, or at least to take some sick leave time. She refused, of course.

Once I got the girls loaded in the truck, I took Jayden to daycare downtown. I then took the big girls and dropped them off at school. Then I rushed back to Denise's house to see how I could help her. (My contracted time at work starts at 8, and at this point it was 8:15. I have kids in my room starting at 8:30.) Denise had gotten herself out of the garage and was sitting on the chair in the living room with ice on her. Again she refused to go to the dr. or to even take any time off. The only thing she would allow me to do was to pack the girls' lunches and take them to school. I pulled up to the school at 8:25 and hurried to my room. At about the same time I walked into my classroom, I got a phone call. It was Paige's teacher saying that Paige wasn't acting like herself, and that she was blaming herself for the accident. I said that I would come down and talk to her.

I headed down to see Paige, cuddle with her, and reassure her that this wasn't her fault at all. I reminded her about the conversation we had had in the vehicle before getting to school (time to be a big girl, needed to make sure this didn't ruin their day, etc...) I sent her back to class, but the teacher also wanted an update as to what was going on. By the time I got back to my class I had kids in the room without much supervision. :(

Denise was able to come back to school, but she has a big gash on her shin, and she limps around. The girls felt much better once they saw her.

The rest of my day felt so disjointed! I had never realized how important those last few minutes at home are to me. They help me process the day and what it holds. Those are the minutes that I use for getting my lunch together, grabbing any items I'll need for school, and any last-minute things I might need to do. I also have realized how important that 30 min. of contracted time is that I have before kids get to my room. That is the time I use to make contact with other teachers, run the copies I'll need for the day, and to make sure I have my materials laid out. Without that hour yesterday morning, I was constantly having to double check myself and rush around.

On top of all that, Mom and Dad were coming for supper, and I had planned on laying out the things for supper, and some general cleanup around the house. That didn't happen!

I ended up having to rush home during planning period, set out the salmon to thaw, and then also grab my lunch.

After school I exercised with Kym and then hurried home to get supper ready and throw anything that might be lying around into a closet or my bedroom!

Mom, Dad, Grandma and I had a great evening full of laughter and discussion. It was good to hear about their recent trip to Oregon, the goings on at Hesston High school, and to share my thoughts about crazy people from Goessel! :)