Freshman fiasco

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The first day of high school was extremely overwhelming for The Teenager . . .

We headed out early and made sure we knew where all of her classes were. I left her off hoping she’d have a good day, but about halfway through, she texted me on her cell phone and said she was lost. I tried to help her get her bearings but to no avail. Finally she just told me “Mom, I’m just not getting it. I want to come home.”

I tried once more to help her figure it out but by then she was just so upset with herself, there was no reasoning with her. I went to the school and picked her up.

So, Tuesday night we went back to the school, marked all of her classes on the map and walked from one class to the next just like she would during school hours. And yesterday, she tried again. Although she managed to find everything this time, she somehow didn’t make it to PE class or at least the PE teacher didn’t see (?) her. I don’t know, but she was marked absent for 4th period.

Today she called me after 3rd period and said she didn’t feel well. I told her to go to the office so they could go through the proper protocol. They, of course, sent her to the health room where the nurse had her lay down for a while and then deemed her well enough to go to class.

Guess what period/class it was? Yep, PE . . . again.

Can you tell she has an aversion to PE? Frankly, I don’t blame her. It’s the 3rd day of school and she has yet to make it to that class. I know part of the issue is that she has no idea where to go once in the gym. There is no direction, no clue, no help of any kind in figuring it out.

I called the school and asked them to please come up with a plan to get her from 3rd period to 4th period tomorrow. The other part of the problem is that 3rd period is completely on the opposite side of campus from 4th – a 90+ ACRE campus, no less. And she’s supposed to find her way? With no direction? And nobody notices she’s lost or needs help? Or even OFFERS to help her, for that matter.

Right. I was more than irritated.

The principals secretary said she’d provide The Teenager with an escort tomorrow and ensure she gets to the right PE class and introduced to her teacher.

I’ll tell you what – they better. Because they do NOT want me to come to school and speak with them.

We had a very similar problem with PE last year in middle school. Trust me, they don’t want me to see me in their office with an issue like that at the high school level. I am generally a pretty kind-hearted and patient person, but you don’t mess with my kids. And you sure as hell don’t make them cry.

Anyway, it’s been an interesting week so far. I think I’ve almost been to the high school more often than The Teenager. I’m definitely ready for the week to be over.

On a brighter note, as soon as I have this weeks around the web finished up, I’ll post it. Probably later this evening. We’ll see how things go after school today.

In the arena,

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Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.