Story of the Day 3/ 18/ 2009

I asked Sarah if she had more homework.

This was yesterday- when I was pressed for time and heading out the door.
I was trying to figure out how much I was leaving behind. Just a lousy dinner of leftovers, or a child potentially needing homework help.
Believe me, my husband would rather have the former than the latter.

“Yes, but I can’t find my Language Arts book.”
“Where did you put it?” Duh, but someone has to ask it.
“In my locker?”

“Did you forget to bring it home?”
This has happened, before, and yesterday was a stressful day at school, so I could see that happening.

“No. It is supposed to be in my locker, but it wasn’t in my locker. I looked and I looked”
“Check your backpack, and your room.”
“I did check my backpack. I put all the things out on the floor.”
“What about your room?”
“But it wasn’t here, it was in my locker.”

Nothing more an old mother could do, so I left.
Hey, technically I was only leaving a lousy dinner of leftovers, not a child with homework. Or, at least not with homework that she could do- with or without help.

While working, I thought about her locker.
Sarah’s locker is on the 3rd floor of the main building. In the hall.
It is a large, old , tan metal locker, with a lock.
That doesn’t’ work.
In other words, you can sort of close it ( although a wind would blow it open), but you cannot lock it.

Once, a couple of weeks ago, I had to come to school and get her books and assignments, when she was out ill.
The secretary went upstairs with me, to locate her locker and with the combination in her hand.
I had told her ,”It doesn’t lock.”
But she didn’t’ believe me, until we got to the locker, which looked locked, and I simply pulled it open.
She waved the paper with the combination on it and said, “Well, we don’t’ need that!”

So, her locker doesn’t lock.
But why would anyone take her book?

Language Arts is her second class.
And that class has more books than I have children.
I think.
I haven’t counted my children, lately.
And Sarah was not only without her one book, she was missing three of her Language Arts books.

This morning, she told the teacher.
Well, she was going to have to, sooner or later, but it was expedited because she needed one of the books to do the work.

“Did you check your locker?”
He must be related to me.

Then she thought she spotted in in the room, but it wasn‘t her copy.

He must be a sucker for a student in distress, because he followed her out while she rechecked her locker.
But it wasn’t there.
Nor were the other Language Arts books.

And then he said, “Look!”
Above her tan metal locker.
On top of the tan metal locker just to the side of hers.
Something green.
Apparently, on Tuesday, when pulling things out of her locker to put into her backpack, she had pulled out the Language Arts texts and set them on top of the locker while rummaging around for her other things.
And left them there..

Sarah told me three other things about this.

Gary, her teacher, laughed. Both at her story and when he spotted teh green books atop the other student's locker.

She felt bad that she wasted all of that time searching for them.

And that I could make this my story of the day.