07 October 2009

Missing child?

I am working from home today, and I got a phone call from ThePinkThing's school about an hour ago.

(ring, ring)
Neurondoc: Hello?
School Secretary: Hello, I am calling from X Elementary School. Is this ThePinkThing's mother?
ND: Yes.
SS: We have her here in the main office. She was supposed to walk home today?
ND: Walk home? No, she doesn't walk home.
SS: Well, we got a phone call from her father earlier today to say that she'd be a "walker" today.
ND: That's not right. She should be at her aftercare program. Are you sure it is ThePinkThing there? (First and last name said slowly and loudly, just in case)
SS: Yes, it is TPT sitting here.
ND: She shouldn't be there. And I guess the buses have left by now.
SS: Yes.
ND: I am a bit confused -- why did you think my daughter would be walking home today? (Mind you, we live almost a mile from the school, and TPT wouldn't be able to find her way home by herself)
SS: I got a call from someone, and I swear he said (insert TPT's first and last names) would be walking home from school.
ND: Okay, I'll be there to get her in a few minutes. What would you have done if I was at work?
SS: We would have taken her to her aftercare program.

(Pick up TPT, who's in the office looking not scared, but a bit bemused. The secretary is trying to figure who was the real kid who was supposed to walk home. As we are getting into my car, my phone rings -- it's TheHusband)

ND: Hello?
TH (in an urgent tone): Where's TPT? Aftercare just called and said she wasn't on the bus.
ND: Ah. She's here in my car. Apparently there was some sort of screw-up at the office and she was told she'd be a "walker" today.
TH: Phew. Okay.

TPT is now at her aftercare program, where her arrival caused a bit of a stir. Several of her friends wanted to know why she was supposed to walk home, why I was bringing her late, where she'd been... I just want to know how pissed the other dad is -- the one who called the office to tell them to have his kid walk home. I bet he'll have a cow on the phone. I certainly would (and sort of did).

This kind of situation highlights all of my worries about having TPT go from one place to another without my (or TH's) direct supervision. And I used the opportunity to reinforce that she shouldn't ever get into a car with a stranger, and who is actually approved to take her home.

8 comments:

Shawn Powers said...

What's really strange for me is that you named your child "The Pink Thing", and yet the secretary somehow confused that with some other little girls name that sounds like "The Pink Thing"

Yes, if I were Thump Inkling's father, I'd be livid.

neurondoc said...

ROFLMAO. Thank you, Shawn.

Janiece said...

I KNEW YOU WOULDN'T STAY ON HIATUS.

Bwahaha.

And yes - scary times when they're little. Crap, scary times when they're BIG.

Nathan said...

That's funny...Widget call me this afternoon to tell me that LuLu and Teufel were claiming they had permission to go out the back window.

I don't know where these kids get these ideas.

neurondoc said...

Shut up, Janiece. Just because I can't stay quiet does not mean that you need to point that out.

Walter Inkling said...

Someone's got some splaining to do!!!

Jim Wright said...

Damnit, Shawn, I spit fluids.

Christine said...

We had a family code word. The boys were told that if there was an emergency and we had to send someone other than immediate family (us, grandparents, aunt, uncle) to pick them up, don't go unless that person knew the family code word. Never had to use it, thank heavens.