Friday the Thirteenth

...was really out to get me this year!  With a vengence!!!

The day didn't start well, as I had to get up at 6am to get ready to take Drama Teen to an orthodontics appointment at the other side of the country!  Six AM is NOT a good time for me!!  Its a good job I had half an hour on my own, to potter about and come round lol.  Then I was joined by a snuggly Little Prince, for cuddles and a chat on the sofa, while I checked my emails and Facebook.  He was munching away on his cereal when I left with Drama Teen.

Our journey was fairly uneventful, just a long, boring slog through horrible rainy weather.  We got to the Hospital early, so went to the coffee shop for a drink and snack to while away some more time.  The coffee shop were selling some lovely looking cupcakes, but when I asked for one they said I could only have it if I had a hot drink WTF?!?!  I could understand it if they charged me a higher price, than the offer price if you bought a hot drink - but to refuse to serve it to me altogether!!!  I was not happy!!  Drama Teen was blissfully happy with her slice of chocolate cake, so at least that went right!

When we were almost at our destination we had got a text from Mr Messy to ask if we could ring school and find out what was going on and also that we had got his Shop keys (we took his car and the keys were still attached to the car keys!!) so he couldn't go to work.  Apparently after Mr Messy had dropped Little Prince off at school, he decided to run home on his own to get his school bag!!  The first Mr Messy knew about this was when Little  Prince burst into the house, shouted he was getting his bag, and then jumped on his scooter and fled before Mr Messy could even say anything!!!  The recent thunder storms seem to have affected our phones, and they haven't been working since, so Mr Messy was left dealing with a screaming Princess Lollipop (she wanted her brother and to go to school on her scooter), and unable to get in touch with school to find out a) if Little Prince made it back safely and b) what on earth was he doing running home like that?!?!?  I rang school from the carpark and then spent the whole of Drama Teen's appointment obsessively checking to see if they had called back!!!

The appointment went smoothly, and Drama Teen doesn't have to be seen again until next Easter, when they will give her teeth another check up and will discuss putting her back on the waiting list for an operation on her nose, for Summer 2013.  But school did NOT ring!!!

As soon as we got back in the car, I rang school again - the teacher was teaching and would call me back in half an hour!!  I was on edge and not concentrating as I backed out of the space and reversed right into the car behind me!!!!  Luckily a man and his wife were just returning to their car and saw everything, they gave me their details and agreed that there was no damage on either car.  They were also laughing that I was shouting to Drama Teen to not tell her Dad right now, I'd let him know when we got home!!!  Once that was dealt with we set off, however, due to all the delays my parking ticket validation had run out!!  I had to use the intercom to call the security office and beg to be let out!  Drama Teen thought it was hilarious that I got told off "Don't do it again" came the officious voice over the intercom!!!

We maanged to make it to a fast food restaurant in time for the anticipated phone call from school.  Little Prince's teacher explained that she had just come on duty (10 mins before school stars) and some children came running over to say that Little Prince had run home!!  Two pupils said they had noticed Josh hadn't got his bag and told him to go and get it, they said they thought he could catch his Dad before he drove away.  Mr Messy's version of the story was slightly different, he dropped Little Prince off 5 mins before school starts (ie after school were in loco parentis) and Little Prince waved to him from the school gate as he drove past, as they do every morning!!  So the teachers should have prevented him from running off, especially as he is the only child in the school with a Statement of Special Needs!!!

Luckily the rest of the journey home was quiet and boring :-)  We got back in time to meet Mr Messy at our Shop to swap car keys, and grab a soothing drink (Diet Coke before you ask!!) before heading off to pick the Littlies up from school.  While me and Princess Lollipop were stood waiting for Little Prince's class to come out, there was a huge commmotion and one of the Nursery children was rushed into reception unconscious in his Dad's arms!  He had fallen backwards, banged his head on the tarmac and blacked out!!  My friend S, was holding the baby brother trying to comfort him, but he was obviously frightened and just wanted Daddy and was sobbing and screaming :-(  A few moments later the Nursery teacher came rushing through to reception and held the hurt child who was slowly regaining consciousness, while the Dad held the baby son and comforted both children.  Princess Lollipop was shocked and frightened by all of this and wanted "Up" and wouldn't let go of me for ages afterwards.  I hope her little friend is ok, as they were all still in reception when we left, an ambulance had been called and hopefully wouldn't take too long.

Once Little Prince's class had all dispersed, me and his teacher went inside for a chat.  She was adamant that she had come out 10 mins before school starts, and that Little Prince had already run off by this point.  I pointed out that Mr Messy said he dropped Little Prince off later than that, but she stuck to her guns and its a probably unrsesolveable case of "He said, she said,"  I believe Mr Messy and am convinced that school and the teacher are just covering their backs, but as there are only 4 more days left in this term and the teacher is leaving then anyway, there doesn't seem any point in pursuing it.  That would only get the school's backs up, and we need their support for Little Prince to get the full benefit out of his time there.  So annoying as it is, we have to just put up with what school have told us and make it VERY clear to Little Prince that this is NEVER to happen again.

Little Prince was a very subdued and contrite little boy all evening, and grounding him seems to have hammered home the message that it is not a safe or acceptable thing to do.  The evening before was the very first time he had been allowed to play out with his friend's without an adult supervising, and he had LOVED it.  So he was very disappointed that he wasn't allowed to do that again, but he didn't complain or argue. he just accepted his punishment quietly.

Later in the evening Mr Messy managed to work out what the problem with the phones was and fix it, so at least we are contactable and able to contact the outside world again :-)

I went to bed when the Littlies did, exhausted and glad that the day had finished.