Mornings in our house are a tightly choreographed dance of who is doing what where when: Andre is in the kitchen and I am upstairs; Andre is upstairs and I am in the kitchen; Andre is making breakfast and I am waking the kids; the kids are eating breakfast and I am finishing getting dressed. On it goes, each of us weaving around the others, chatting, moving and generally getting ready. By 8:15, everyone is out of the house.
Except for last Thursday. Last Thursday we thought everything was going along smoothly: Andre had run out to the bakery for our breakfast; I had woken the children and then finished getting ready; Mr. 14 was putting his lunch together in the kitchen while Andre dressed upstairs. I left first, and Mr. 14 followed me. Andre was putting on his shoes, about to head out the door, when he noticed a backpack in the corner of the front room.
A backpack? But the kids had already gone to school.
Except that we had forgotten about Mr. 12. He had stayed up LONG after his bedtime finishing a book (Skander and the Unicorn Thief – he highly recommends it and is already desperate for the sequel which has not yet been released) so when I woke him up, he said hello, sat up, then laid back down, turned over and went back to sleep. In the morning chaos (ahem, choreography) no one noticed a missing 12-year-old. Oops.
Andre slipped his shoes off, woke up the kid, made him some lunch, thrust a bun at him for breakfast and got him out of the house so quickly that Mr. 12 wasn’t even late for school and Andre wasn’t late for work.
We have tried to foist this oversight off on the child, telling him firmly that he cannot read until all hours of the night on a school night, but he knows the truth: we totally forgot about him.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
Love it
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Amanda,
LOL! You know you approve of late night reading! 😉 Wouldn’t it be nice if reading late at night were an epidemic. I smile thinking about it. Mr. 12 now has an excellent story to tell about his *forgetful* parents. I have an aunt and uncle who left a kid at church one time. I lost my boys in a rack at Melvyn’s years ago. I was in such a frenzy and had the sales associate in a panic, too.
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Ha! I understand late night reading – I empathize with late night reading – I *live* late night reading – but I would still like for the little imp to sleep. And, when he recounted this story with delight, I was able to say that this barely even counts. My parents once left me at a gas station on a road trip… heeheehee
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OMG! Being left at a gas station would traumatize me for life. 🤣
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Images of Home Alone, which my grandson Mr. 4 loves to watch. It’s amazing how quickly we forget about those frantic days of choreographed mornings now that our kids are doing it themselves. We really have no memory of how we managed 3 girls.
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I like to tell people that we didn’t let Mr. 12 watch Home Alone for years because we were afraid he would get ideas. It’s still one of his faves. I can only imagine what would have happened if we’d actually forgotten. (Ok, truth: he probably would have gotten up, called one of us & then gone to school.)
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I do believe the term choreography is most accurate, and I don’t think it counts as forgetting since you hadn’t left the house yet. lol
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One year, after a bathroom run, the 2nd graders headed out to board the bus for a field trip downtown. I counted (I thought) carefully, but then second guessed because there were 2 classes (the other with a substitute teacher) and I hadn’t included the door holders. So I added them in at the end. Well, one poor soul with some gastrointestinal issues was still in the bathroom. The bus pulled away, but I soon got a text and we circled back. The young student, beaming at the special attention, waited with the facilities manager’s arm securely over his shoulders. Shame burned from my head to my toes at my oversight. The mother was so so gracious when I called her that day.
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Oh, I am SO glad the mother was gracious. If you had called me, I would have laughed my head off. I’ve taken kids overseas & counted heads until my eyes crossed & still been uncertain if everyone was there! Glad your story worked out & I bet that kid still tells the story.
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Thank you so much for your kind reply! Earlier that week a bus driver had been fired for leaving a student on the bus. So I was really shaking in my boots. The 2nd grader was someone living with neurodiversity concerns. So of course my heart was broken. 😩
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Thank you for bringing us into this gorgeous dance!! I loved how you brought this all together.
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The fact that no one was late is truly the masterpiece of this slice. Like, I would have LOST MY MIND.
Choreography is a great way to describe the delicate morning balance (also, the fact you and Andre are in different places is amazing. My husband is always right exactly in my space while I am trying to make breakfasts, pack lunches, dishes…).
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Your story is a gem, Amanda. Your choice of wording, “tightly choreographed dance” and its explanation is a rich way of describing your ritual and routines. Tomorrow, I am writing a poem in tribute of what slicers know. I plan on using the thoughts that I mentioned with credit to you. I am so glad that we met once upon a time.
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I have missed reading you this month! Thank you for dropping by & I’m heading over to you asap. 🙂
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I always love reading your posts, Amanda, so I thank you for stopping by mine.
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Almost a Home Alone moment! Love love love that he was reading and desperate for the next book. Your morning weaving sounds a lot more pleasant than our mornings!
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I once had a student who did not come to school. The secretary, as usual, called home to make sure she was at home but the parents were sure they’d sent her to school. A mad search of the house did not reveal her. Soon the other children were being asked if they’d seen her at the bus stop – nobody had. An even more frantic, more thorough search finally located her in her older sister’s bed. She’d gotten up when her mom woke her and then snuck in for some more sleep. (I didn’t ask why nobody was making sure the 9-year-old had breakfast and got onto the bus…) It was a scary bit of time for sure!
I need some books that will keep me up late. I turn in my final project on April 12, then I can read all the good books. 🙂
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Oh my! That would have been scary indeed!
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Um…my favourite one of these was my parents getting a few km down the road from the cottage before my newly mom of 2 (I was almost 5 when my little brother arrived) suddenly realized that the baby was still asleep at the cottage. Apparently, I was not amused at us returning to get him.
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This is definitely hilarious and so beautifully crafted, just like the dance you describe your mornings as. I am sure your 12 year old will not be permanently scarred!
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The moment when your slice pivots on Andre noticing Mr. 12’s backpack — wonderfully paced. The subsequent recovery to get everyone where they needed to be on time — even more impressive.
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