Over the weekend I was painfully aware that I was not writing any blog posts. I can't explain it - I suppose I felt a need to satisfy the cravings of my three loyal readers, even if said readers are too polite to tell me that really, they can get by without a post from me. Really. ...But I told myself, "It's the weekend! Give your hard-working brain a rest". So I did, whilst eating a lot of ice cream. Then Monday came and went without me writing anything and I was stressing even more than before. Why? You ask. This isn't homework. There's no due date. True, and true. So I don't know what my issue is. But you, dear readers, certainly benefit from my as-yet-undiagnosed problem, as here I am again, back at the keyboard and ready to bring you something really amazing.
Another Safety Town update.
Okay, before you ask - yes, I've been remembering my blue square every day like a good little mommy. I have a new concern. Or, rather, the Safety Town people have a new concern with ME.
At some point last week, a hand-written note was sent home. It read:
Need to work on address and phone number.
Now, I know that part of this whole Safety Town gig is having the kids know what to do in times of trouble, such as when their mother distractedly leaves them in the Target parking lot and the child needs to seek out a Police Officer and ask him/her for assistance in getting home. A vital part of this scenario would be the child tearfully informing the officer: "My address is..." Hence, it would be helpful if Caity actually knew her address. So the next, most obvious step would be that I immediately forgot about the note and went about my daily routine (Facebook, staring at walls, etc).
A couple of days later, another note was sent home. It read:
Parents of Caitlin: Work on address and phone number.
This was slightly more authoritative, as it actually directed a command to the adults in the household. O-kay! We would get cracking on that address stuff pronto.
Fast-forward to yesterday morning at 8:53, when I remembered that we'd never actually worked on the address and phone number stuff. I had really good intentions. I mean, I thought about it a lot. We know how well that works. Oops.
Thus it was as we drove to Safety Town 30 min later, I drilled Caity on the numbers in our address: "The first number is 3. Can you remember that? What is it? Okay, good. The next number is 1. Tell me both numbers. Are you ready for the next one?" And so on. As we ran into the building, I was practically shouting. "Now what's the street name? No, not Michigan! That's the state!" And so on until I left her in the classroom. And then I promptly forgot about it. Again. (This would be a good time for you to wonder to yourself, 'What the hell is wrong with Wendy? Her kids are going to get lost, not have any clue what their address is, and be totally screwed.')
So I was not surprised when this afternoon, at Pick-Up, one of the teen helpers came with Caity out into the hallway. "Caity really needs to work on her address and phone number," the girl informed me.
What could I do? I hung my head in shame.
5 comments:
They don't f*&^ around at Safety Town.
I thought of you while cleaning out my car this weekend. I found my blue square under the seat. Is Caity at the purple table? I should have given you my square as a backup.
I'm assuming Safety Town costs money, correct? So, wouldn't you think it would be part of *THEIR* responsibility to collectively teach the kids how to memorize this information? ie, get the kids to practice with each other during the "class". It's not like they provided you an itemized list of pre-reqs to get a Safety Town diploma.
It might be a good thing that I'm not a parent at this point. I'd probably spend too much time being a total smartass to The People In Charge in situations like this.
Well, since you are the must awesome mom in the world, and will therefore never forget Caity at Target, the homework assignment is a non-issue.
Safety Town should not have homework. The end.
Again delving into my vast experience as a former Safety Town teacher...we spent many hours helping the kids memorize their address and phone number. Probably more on that than the little town where they got to "drive" and learn how to cross the street safely. Maybe I WOULD make a good parent - I can help kids memorize!
Seems like Safety Town should cut Caity (and her mother) a little slack given that she just moved and therefore has a brand new address and phone number to learn!
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