I forgot to place a book order when the latest flyer from Scholastic was placed in Mateo’s cubby at preschool. I meant to. He and I had sat down at the kitchen table a couple of weeks ago and marked the items he wanted. Books about cars and trucks, bunnies and foxes, numbers and counting, songs. And the section in the flyer with toys in it? We checked those boxes, too.
Today when I picked Mateo up from preschool, he greeted me with an uncharacteristic frown. “You forgot the book order,” he said as his little friends danced around him clutching plastic Ziploc bags filled with paperbacks. “Everybody got books except me.” He cried as I buckled him into the car seat and cried all the way home. At dinnertime, tears streamed down his face as he pushed away his plate.
“Mommy forgot the book order!” he wailed when Tim walked through the door. “Everyone but me got a packet.”
I offered a trip to the library. “You love the library,” I reminded him. He responded with a gasp followed by a hiccup. I tried another distraction tactic: “How about tonight we read all your favorites and plan what we’ll order next time.” Mateo screamed louder.
My son loves books. Every night at bedtime, he selects an armload and we snuggle up together to read them. Mateo can’t go to sleep without that ritual.
How could I have forgotten to place the book order? I feel terrible.
ShareThisTags: disappointment, loss
Jessica,
This reminds me of the time Graciela was in kindergarten. It was close to the last day of school and she came off the bus sobbing! As I held her I heard, “I was the only one in the entire class who didn’t get one of those books!” I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about. Once she was composed, she described the book to be the one with all of the pictures in it. Ah, the yearbook that BAD Mommy forgot to order and didn’t think she’d notice.
So, like a good guilt ridden mother, I called the office to see if there were any extras that my poor daughter could have. The secretary told me that maybe a quarter of the k class ordered a yearbook. To Graciela….she was the o*n*l*y one. So now, when that yearbook order sheet comes around, I pay close attention to the due date.
Isn’t parenting the hardest job you’ve ever had???
I absolutely had no idea how hard parenting would be. My mother and sisters and made it look so easy!
Can just imagine your phone call to the school and your shock on discovering the truth. Same thing happened to me, when a teacher told me 7 out of 70 families had placed orders! Nevertheless, for Mateo and Graciela, it felt like the end of the world.
Thanks for reading, June, and relating to my story.