34 and Still Getting in Trouble at School!

I forgot to pick my kids up at school this Wednesday. Forgot to pick up my kids! Now, in my defense it was an early release day, which happens every Wednesday in Pinellas county and we did not have such silliness in Charlotte county schools, so I am still not used to it, The regular dismissal is 2:50, but on Wednesdays it is 1:35 allowing teachers extra time to plan during the week. The first week of school, they went all out making sure the parents knew to pick their kids up early, sending home flyers, automated phone calls the night before and a clear message about early release on the school marquis. So despite my scattered brain I got it, I picked them up early. This week however, only week 2 I should mention, no phone calls, no flyers. Nothing. And because I'm still getting used to this new schedule plus the fact that I have a tendency to be a bit unorganized, it completely slipped right off my mind that I needed to pick my daughters up at school an hour and fifteen minutes earlier that day.
I usually leave my house at 2:30 to get in the line. We live so close to the school it takes me no time at all to get there. This past week has been a rough one for various reasons, and I was feeling so rundown. Not wanting to be sick for the holiday weekend, I decided to take a nap before I got the girls. I bribed Natalie with a quarter to lay down with me and set my alarm for 2:20, giving me ten minutes to come out of my nap fog before I left for pickup. I left my phone on, but turned the ringer to beep/vibrate so it wouldn't wake Natalie. I of course would hear it, right? Well, no, apparently not. So I close my eyes at 1:30 and before I know it the alarm is screeching me awake. Wow time flies when you're napping! I was just getting ready to make some coffee when my phone beeped. It was the school. "Hello Mrs. Walker? This is Sawgrass Elementary, I called you a few minutes ago too. We still have your two daughters here." So I look at the stove clock which says 2:24 and say" Okaaaayyy, umm.." "It's early release day, did you forget?" "Oh my gosh!!! Oh my gosh! Yes, I totally forgot! I am soooo sorry!" I kept apologizing and "OMG"ing. " No problem, but your girls are a little upset, you want to talk to them?" Okay, so now as if I don't feel like a big enough loser, my daughter's in the front office of her new school thinking I have been in some horrible car accident or hopped a boat to Bermuda like I've threatened on numerous occasions. Mason is a worrywart by nature and she comes by it naturally,her nerves of jelly passed on courtesy of yours truly. So I could only imagine how many times she had twisted her shoelace around her fingers or how many hours of therapy were going to be needed after this incident. I told her how sorry I was and that I was on my way. Now the secretary had told me my "daughters" were upset. I knew Mason was and would expect nothing less, but Cams? I highly doubted it. I asked Mason if her sister was alright. "Oh yeah, she's fine. She did pinch a little Pre-K student, but she's just sitting here now." I knew it. The beauty of Cams's mind is that worry rarely finds it's way in. For all Cams knew, she and Mace were on a field trip to the office. She has no concept of time, only that there is never enough of it when it comes to the merry go round. And the fact that she doesn't know to worry like Mason is such a blessing for so many reasons, but in this particular situation such a blessing for Mace because I can only imagine the monstrocities the two of them could have conjured up about why I was late and what could have happened to me. And in a situation where the normal procedure would be for big sister to calm little sister, in these circumstances it was quite the opposite, with little Cams keeping Mason from hyperventilating about my tardiness.
As I pulled into the car circle, the principal walked the girls to my car. The principal! I was so embarrassed. I laughed it off and asked if this was where I was to pick up my Mother of the Year award? She laguhed and said not to worry, I was one of about ten other parents who had forgotten. I felt a slight bit better,until Mason chimed in with "Ten parents out of like 500 mom!" Ohhhhh, yeah, then I really am pathetic.
I made it up to them with cookie dough shakes from Steak and Shake and 6 times over "Thrill Hill" (only a St. Pete native knows what I'm talking about here).
Mason told me how the whole thing went down, how every car that pulled in she thought was me, how Cams pinched a little girl next to her who was already crying for some other reason and how after 45 minutes waiting for me, the coach in charge of parent pickup told the office staff that the kids were coming inside, then pointed at Camryn and said "But this one here, she's gonna need an adult with her" LOL
I assured Mason that I would never be late again, but that if for some unforseen reason I was, I'd give her twenty bucks.I think she's hoping I'll forget again next week. I told Cams I was sorry for being late, to which she gave me a snap said "I wanna see Ry-ry". Ahhh, to live in her world :)