Personal Day

Sterling forgot to bring home a worksheet yesterday.  It was pretty late last night when he realized his mistake and there was nothing we could do about it.  Because it was due first thing this morning, Sterling knew he'd have to work on it in Study Hall during recess.  While this may not sound like a big deal to you and me, it was as good as a death sentence for Sterling.  He fell apart and pleaded with me to keep him home from school.

I wanted to.  I really, really wanted to.  I had visions of my 7th grade self when I forgot my English book which was a 50 point penalty.  I was so worried about it that I got sick in my cooking class and had to go home before English.  Except I wasn't really sick.

But somehow I kicked into mom mode and gave Sterling the "you can do hard things" lecture.  He was still upset when he woke up and had a very rough morning.  He worried about his teacher's reaction.  I assured him that she would be understanding, but would have to follow through with the consequence.  He worried that his classmates would make a big deal about it when he got called to Study Hall.  They probably would, too.  He's a really smart kid and so, naturally, they get some satisfaction at pointing out his imperfections.  Despite his tears and his fears, I finally coaxed him out the door.

He walked in the house again a few minutes later.  I helped him settle down and then drove him to school.  By this time he was at least 20 minutes late which required that I sign him in at the office with a reason for his tardiness.  I jotted down "crisis" and walked him to class at his request.  He was unloading his backpack when he realized that his class was in music and he had left his recorder and sheet music at home.  I could see him starting to fall apart again and so I did what I'd wanted to do all along.  I took him home.  I stopped in at the office, crossed his name off the late roster and told the ladies that he would be taking a personal day.

We all need a personal day once in a while.  I think I did the right thing.