Day 2

The first day of school is one thing. The second day? Not so much fun.

One daughter was given the wrong schedule. Made for a harrowing first day: She went to lunch, then went to PE, where she was told she was half an hour late. Where had she been? Lunch, she answered. You were in the wrong lunch. I went to the one on my schedule, she answered. Well, it's wrong. So she sat through half of PE, then went to another lunch, where she was reprimanded for not eating (I already ate, she said. Too bad - eat again.).

Poor kid. I drove her to school early so we could meet with the counselor. Got there, and as it was the second day of school, there were several people waiting to see her - others had schedule conflicts, including the same one my daughter had.

The counselor showed up at 1 minute til 8 - one minute before school starts. And she had a large drink in hand. So the reason she was not in the office, ready to assist people on the second day of class, is that she had to get a Diet Coke from McDonald's?

Irritating.

We got to talk to her first - not sure why, and had I been the parent who was waiting there first, I would have been annoyed - and the counselor says, Oh, sorry - my fault. I made out these schedules and forgot that students on this team can't have fifth period PE.

Nice of her to acknowledge her culpability. But hello, are you new here? (Um, no, she is not.) How could you foul this up?

I thought about saying something, but decided against it - really, she's been fairly nice to us, to my daughter, so I held my tongue. I really don't relish being a PITA parent. Schedule fixed, all is well. Why stir up trouble?

Yet, at the same time, I have to be an advocate for my children. Who else will? No one else loves them the way I do; no one else really cares. So I'll make that sacrifice.

But maybe I'll wait til the third day of class - I'll give the school a chance.