3 Phone Calls

Anytime you get three phone calls from the school in one day, it is not a good thing.

The first phone call came at about 8:30. Sam called to tell me that he forgot to bring clothes to help him look like a pilgrim. He described to me what he needed. I had to go to the school anyway at 9:00 to bring George. I told Sam I would bring the stuff.

The second phone call came at about 8:35. It was Sam again. He forgot to bring stuff that he could barter with. Apparently, the fifth graders were supposed to barter, just like pilgrims from long ago. I asked him what he had in mind. He said, "Anything I don't use anymore." Normally, this would be an open invitation to clean his room and trash half the stuff, but I didn't have time. I quickly found a few items and put them in the bag with his pilgrim clothes (actually an old robin hood costume and Chinese peasant hat).

The third phone call came at about 11:00. I remember thinking, "What else did he forget?" But it was not Sam who answered when I said hello, but the school secretary. She proceeded to explain to me that Sam had a pencil go all the way through his cheek and that she cleaned it up the best she could, but to watch it in case it got infected. There was still some graphite on the inner cheek. As Sam was not crying or upset, but wanted to go back to class, she let him. The feast and bartering had not taken place yet.

I'm thinking, "Okay, it must be on the inner cheek where the pencil went through, much like a sliver in your finger." As no alarm was raised, I was not going to raise any. I went on with my day, relieved that I didn't have to pick up Sam and take him to the doctor to remove any foreign objects.

When Sam got home from school, I got the whole story. Yes indeed, the pencil did go through his whole cheek. Lucky for Sam, the pencil was sharp and pierced quickly and almost painlessly (much like a piercing at the mall). There was only a small scab on the outside of his cheek, and as he informed me he was fine, I didn't care to look on the inside. However his cheek was slightly swollen.

But now, how did it happen? Apparently, the girl who sits next to Sam was tapping his cheek with her pencil, trying to get his attention. He turned at the tap and voila, a pencil piercing. Upon discovering that the pencil went through his cheek (graphite marks were on the inside), his teacher sent him to the office. The secretary cleaned him up and let him return. Though Sam was not distressed, the girl with the pencil was. After Sam left the room, another boy yelled, "Murderer" to the girl. She burst into tears. When Sam returned, he informed her that he was fine and everything was okay. Everyone went home happy, each with a story to tell.

My advice to all mothers everywhere is when the phone rings and the caller id shows the elementary school for the third time in one day, don't pick it up. Remember the first day of school and how the school made you fill out tons of forms? Remember how you had to fill in some emergency contacts? All I'm saying is that you put those names down for a reason.