Last Saturday, I and my husband had a unique experience. In the morning, my husband dropped off our daughter at the bus stop. After coming back, we sat in the balcony to enjoy a “quiet” cup of tea. Before the first sip, I received a call from my daughter’s school. 

Till a couple of weeks back, I was working in the same school. I have quit to take care of my 4-month old daughter. Anyways, that’s topic for a different post. The teacher making the call was an ex-colleague so it was on a more personal term. My daughter had fallen down in the class and hurt herself. We had to go and pick her up. We rushed immediately to the school. The 10 min that it took to reach the school, my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. And not just about how my daughter might be faring.

My husband keeps pulling my leg that the norms of the school have been drilled into me so strongly that they have become a part of my personality. On that day I realized he was right. My first (or may be the second one!!) thought turned to the teacher who must have been on that floor at that time. She must be feeling so bad that a child has got hurt under her vigil.

I wondered whether the nurse would be available at that time; there were 15 min left for the school to start. And my apprehension proved right when I finally reached there. The first aid had been provided by someone else; an old hand taking care of the children for past 20 yrs.

Last but not the least, I was worried if I will behave like a hysterical parent or a matured one on seeing my injured daughter. As a teacher I have had to deal with many parents who get frenzied that how we could let their child get injured. So many teachers and still something like this could happen? We teachers would fume how parents could behave in such an immature fashion. Why can’t they understand that teachers can’t be present at all the places at all times? And moreover, teachers do avert so many mishaps by their sheer presence. Well, all that rationalization failed me during those 10 min.

We reached the school to find our daughter in quite a presentable shape; at least she was not crying!! The teachers who handed her over to us were themselves quite worried and relieved to see us. Stitches had to be given for her wound and it has healed now. She will be joining school from tomorrow. And we managed to behave as a matured parent. All is well that ends well.