>It was definitely one of those days.

Should (not): The secretary on the phone at 7:20 telling me that Amigo had fallen and bumped his nose shouldn’t have used the phrase “I don’t know if it’s broken”.
Reality: She wasn’t a nurse, and didn’t describe the injury very well, despite my Red Cross training and my detailed questions.
End result: I worried all day. I even emailed husband.

Should: The historic house down the road should have been clear in their phone call.
Reality: Both the secretary and the principal thought it was a “deal with this within an hour or lose the trip!” situation.
End result: We were cranky when we made the return call because we hadn’t arranged a field trip there, and we eventually found out the call had just been outreach to recruit more schools to visit.

Should: Teachers should communicate all special needs, even gifted and talented, to the next teacher.
Reality: A student today told me he was supposed to be in the next grade’s math program, accelerated by a year.
End result: The jury’s still out. I sent out a quick email to the relevant teachers, and I’ll check the child’s file tomorrow. I couldn’t today; I was dealing with a field trip phone call (see above).

Should: I should have stopped worrying about Amigo’s nose.
Reality: Since I didn’t see it or talk to a qualified medical person, I had no idea how serious it was — or not.
End result: He talks like he has a cold (which he still does), had a small headache, and strongly resembles a football player with a bandage instead of a breathing strip across his nose.

Ah, well, as my coworker so wisely said, “If you bang your head on the wall, all you’ll get is a sore head.” So instead of pounding out my frustration, I think I should have a cappuccino and some cinnamon toast. Comfort food is called for after a day like this.