The transition from summer to being back in school isn’t only hard on the kids. It can be chaos for us moms too as we re-adjust schedules and remember what it’s like to be on a more consistent routine.
Each year, I love compiling varying fails that myself and other moms experience that first week back to school. One common theme I have seen is that the majority happen during the elementary years. Moms of younger school-aged, just know that you are in good company if you had one or several moments where you dropped the ball on something that first week back. My kids are in high school and middle school and I still have mom fail moments.
If you can’t laugh about it, you might cry. So, take a few minutes and get ready to laugh at the following all true stories of back-to-school failures.
Dropping off your kid late. School starts at 8:30, not 9? Ok, noted. This is a classic one that happens every year to someone in my life.
Picking up kids late. Also good to note is that school dismisses at 2:45, not 3:15. Another classic one that unfortunately has been me in years past.
Missing the first WEEK of school. What’s worse than dropping your kid off or picking them up late? This mom kept waiting for paperwork or something to arrive regarding the first day of school at a new school and new district. Finally, she reached out to the school only to realize that they had somehow misplaced the paperwork and school had started 4 days ago!
Left-handed scissors are a thing? This mom did everything right with remembering school supplies. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize her left-handed child needed left-handed scissors. The best part about this story is that her kindergartner used right-handed scissors the entire school year before mom realized left-handed scissors were a thing.
Getting locked IN your car. Sometimes we have random notifications go off on our car dash. We tend to get to it when we get to it. But in the case of my friend, hers indicated the battery was dangerously low. It then went completely dead. Luckily her kids were already dropped off and she was on a road with a big shoulder so she could pull over. She was then literally trapped in her car because it was locked up with no windows or doors being able to be opened. Thank goodness for cell phones.
Birth dates are hard to remember. After insisting to the teacher and the school IT department that something was wrong with the log in, it turns out this mom was typing in the wrong birthday on repeat the whole time. Whoops.
The Forgotten Enrollment: Adventures in Parenting the Third Child. While attempting to check in for his very first day of high school, this teenager discovered he wasn’t registered. Classic parenting “last child” situation—by the time you get to #3, systems are loose, memory is foggy, and the vibe is very much “What?” Pro Tip: Schools still want paperwork even for the third child.
This really happened to my best friend a few years ago. Driving into a ditch in the carpool lane at school. With the kids in the car. Holding up the entire drop off line. With the principal standing there.
In the rush of morning drop off, my friend thought she had found a quicker way to get through to drop her first grader and preschooler off. She soon found why nobody else was veering that way in line- because that way took her straight into a ditch. Wheels spinning she finally was able to reverse out but only after holding up the entire line and causing the principal to literally walk over and knock on her window to check on things. I can feel myself turning red just thinking of that happening!
Forgetting a kid. Years ago, I agreed to pick up my friend’s kids on the first day of school. The first day of school ends, I picked up my kids and waved bye to my friend’s kids as we drove away. Minutes later, I got a call from my friend but didn’t answer because, hey, I was driving! I continued driving and then it hit me she was probably calling to see how the first day went for her kids…who I just left in the dust. I u-turned it and picked them up before any permanent damage set in.
When you just don’t feel like following instructions. This kid fail would have caused any parent an absolute freak out moment. The school called and asked if the child was sick or why they were not at school. Enter the freak out moment because they had dropped off their kid on time that morning. It turned out kids were supposed to put supplies into the their cubby because that’s how they took attendance while the students went to a morning assembly. When asked why that didn’t happen, the boy replied, “I didn’t feel like doing it.”
De-prioritizing registration paperwork. Not as bad as completely forgetting to register but this mom checked her preschooler in and they asked for the paperwork packet…that she never opened in the mail because she didn’t think it was anything important. She tried to fake that she never received it. There she stood filling it all out on the spot while the other more organized moms simply arrived, dropped off their kid, and left.
Falling down the stairs. One of my friends works on the same campus as her kids middle school and high school. She was walking out of a meeting, laptop and water bottle in hand when she somehow missed a step and went tumbling down. The laptop and water bottle went flying and her legs started bleeding because these were outside concrete steps! The worst part is that there were students all around taking “back to school” pictures. I am just glad she was ok but thinking about it also makes me burst out in tears because it is so embarrassingly funny.
This is your third reminder. This mom forgot to put an art shirt in with her kindergartener’s school supplies. She was then reminded on the first day. Again, on the second day. And, yes you got it, again on the third. I need to check in if she ever remembered it.
Forgetting the no nut rule. Sure, there was probably an email about school being a nut free zone. But that didn’t stop this mom from packing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her kid’s lunch. But wait there’s more. She also packed peanut butter crackers for their lunch.
Coming to school a day early. The first day of school was Wednesday after Labor Day. This mom arrived with her kids on Tuesday after Labor Day. I was crying laughing at this because just think of how defeated she probably felt. Hey, at least there was no line at drop off. But also nobody to drop her kids off to.
Here’s to a successful year of school ahead! But remember, even on those days with failures, you are at least in good company!
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Read more of Stephanie’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
