Mommy Growing Pains

Today was the first day back to school from spring break. It was a dismal scene last night as I confirmed that yes, school night bedtime will remain 8:30pm.

Today was a wonderful day. No extreme lows after basal changes made during the break, and my boys remembered to call me, which is no small miracle in itself…

Which leads me to why I’m blogging…

I was so happy to see the boys after school! I had a super day, and I was eager to hear how their first day back went. One by one I gave the boys the once over with questions and observations about dirty hands and homework habits.

When I got to B, I got a little more than I bargained for.

A little background first. My boys do not go to the school we are supposed to go to. They go to another school across town for two very good reasons. 1) It is a better school. 2) My mother is the yard duty for lunch recess.

Scratch that…my mother USED to be the yard duty at lunch recess. She jumped ship and started working at another school a few weeks ago. Which, really…it is her life...she can work where she wants. EXCEPT! She used to grab B after recess and give him her cell to call me with his lunchtime bg numbers and carb intake. Since she no longer works there, it is up to B to remember to call me on his own.

Which isn’t working out too well. I would say he is 50/50. When he forgets, I have to call the office and have them patch me through to his classroom, which is no biggie, but it does interrupt the class…and it is slightly embarrassing for my Big Boy B.

I even went into the office and asked if they thought the new yard duties would be willing to remind him, and they thought that they would LOVE TO. Except in the week since, they haven’t reminded him once. So I’m back to calling when he forgets.

Alrighty then!! Back to our previously scheduled story!

So I got to B…I said, “B, you were a rock star for remembering to call me today! How in the world did you remember???”

Which received the reply, “Trust me Mom, you DON’T want to know!”

“Oh, but I think I do!”

“Nope, it is a LONG story…trust me, you REALLY don’t want to know.”

(Yes, he is his mother’s son…)

“I’ve got the time, and I would love to hear your LONG story.”

“OK, well, my teacher put a post-it note on my desk that said, ‘Don’t forget to call your mom!’ It was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me in my life!”

(Again, he has flair, he is from my loins…)

“How was that embarrassing?“

“HELLO!!! A bunch of people laughed at me…because I had to call MY MOMMY!”

So, as a mother I want to fix this, right? I work through it with him, problem solving…

“Maybe it can say, CYM…for, Call your mom…it’ll be code, and only you will know.”

“Won’t work mom…everyone will want to know what it means.”

“Tell them it means put Candy in Your Mouth!”

(He rolled his eyes at this point…do you blame him?)

“Maybe it can just say, don’t forget to call, and leave me out of it.” But before I finished my sentence he already had the answer.

“I’ll just tell her to write ‘Call your Dad’ Instead of Mom. Easy! I’ll tell her tomorrow.”

And he happily skipped away.

Apparently, it is ok to call your Dad, and not your Mom.

Apparently my 8 year old is going on 13.

It always happens, it has already happened to me twice before…it is no longer cool to hug when I pick up from school…it is no longer cool to acknowledge your Mom’s existence in the school breezeways…

But when it does happen, I’m never prepared.

He was right…I didn’t want to know.