A Very Loud Noise

My D1 is not much for the mornings. The whole idea of getting up, getting dressed and quickly eating so she can start school just doesn't appeal to her. So each morning is a struggle. It involves a lot of yelling prompting on my part, and a whole lot of rushing. Toss in a crazed, dumb doodle and the mornings are absolute chaos. Most days, it requires me to drive D1 to school, since the bus is almost always missed. Usually she is still on time for the start of school, but on extra crazy days I have to walk her into the school and sign her in late.

In late October we had one of those extra crazy days. After over an hour of a whole lot of yelling prompting, the morning was topped off with a run through the neighbors yards to retrieve our dumb doodle who had gotten loose.

After my morning run, to say I was stressed out was an understatement. We parked in the front of the school and I had to usher both girls into the school to sign D1 in. Feeling a little guilty for all the yelling prompting I did that morning, I paused to give D1 an extra hug before I shoved her out into the world alone. And in those 2.5 seconds I lost track of D2. But as I heard the deafening sound of a fire alarm, I quickly found her. With a very guilty and upset look on her face.

Oh. My. God.


She pulled the fire alarm.



My first instinct was to run. To grab both girls, shove them into the van, and speed off. No one needed to know!



But I took a deep breath, remembered I was wearing my big girl panties, and did the right thing.

I stopped one of the secretaries as she rushed around, knowing it wasn't a planned drill and worried over what may be happening, and told her, it was my little one. She stopped and stared for a moment then went to work.

We walked outside and watched as all the children began filing out of the school. D1 told me she thought she may throw up. D2 held on to me, her face buried into my shoulder. I wished I had someone to hide my face into, too.

A teacher came by and offered to usher D1 to her teacher and classmates. So D2 and I sat on a bench and watched as all 455 students and 67 faculty members filed out into the parking lot. D2 straddled my lap and pressed her face into my chest. She lifted her head only once, to whisper that she wished she could go back into my belly.

As the principal went by I stopped him and apologized. He said it wasn't exactly the way he wanted to start his day, but he assured me it was ok, and that it wasn't the first time.

Then, as the fire truck pulled up, I cringed just a little more. Was this really happening to me?

Oh. My. God. A fire truck. My daughter's doing.

The firemen quickly cut off the deafening alarm. I heard the Principal announce to the students that a "visitor" had accidentally pulled the alarm and they were to now quietly return to their classrooms. D2 and I sat there quietly, as the 455 children and 67 faculty members filed past us, staring and now knowing who the "visitor" in question was.

I waited and once again spoke to the Principal. I asked him if I needed to do anything else. He nicely replied get the hell out of my school no, that we could go home.


My D2. Known by 455 students and 67 faculty members before she has even been enrolled in the school.


I went home and spent the rest of the day coiled into the fetal position.