{"id":2188,"date":"2016-04-12T01:26:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T01:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=2188"},"modified":"2016-04-12T01:26:05","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T01:26:05","slug":"when-mommas-fail-but-schools-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2188","title":{"rendered":"When mommas fail, but schools don’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, we had a really rough morning.\u00a0 It was not my finest moment as a momma.\u00a0 My youngest whose normal routine for getting ready for school can best be described in one word \u2013 poky – was trying to rush us all out the door. \u00a0Even when the stakes are high, she is never in a hurry to get all she needs to have accomplished before it is time to leave.\u00a0 This particular morning was different, she and her best friend wanted to arrive at school early because they wanted to be ready for the state tests.\u00a0 (Honestly, in all my years as a teacher, I have never heard of anyone who was excited to take the state standardized tests. Hats off to their Language Arts teacher!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and enthusiastic test takers often go awry. Our entire house overslept. \u00a0I’m not sure how four people could sleep through four different alarms, but it happened.\u00a0 Needless to say, we did not start out on a great note.\u00a0 By the time, we finally loaded into the truck, I was leaving without packing a lunch and felt under-prepared for a day of inspiring young college students.\u00a0 I realized I had forgotten something critically important and went back to get it.\u00a0 In an effort to be helpful, Sally grabbed my bag off the driver\u2019s seat and placed it in her lap, not realizing that she knocked over the glass of sweet tea I had precariously sat inside the bag. When I returned, every item I had in the bag was covered in two inches of liquid.<\/p>\n

Because I had electronics in the bag, I couldn\u2019t just leave the mess for later.\u00a0 I stormed into the house, dumped the whole bag into the empty sink and tried to salvage as much as I could.\u00a0 By the time we left, I had one girl in tears and another on the verge because her friend was hurting, and I was trying my very best to give them both a pep talk about how they were going to rock this test.\u00a0 No one in that vehicle believed the speech \u2013 including me.<\/em>\u00a0 As we stopped in the carpool lane, I tried one last ditch effort to no avail, and watched in the rear view mirror as my littlest sobbed walking up the sidewalk to the school.<\/p>\n

After quick trip home to recover what could be saved, \u00a0I made a tough decision.\u00a0 Even if I was late to work that day, I was going to the school to hug my girl and to tell her I loved her.<\/p>\n

\"marshall<\/p>\n

Upon my arrival in the office, the administrative support person was delivering the daily announcements.\u00a0 I listened intently.\u00a0 The last announcement left me with more tears than I already had experienced that morning.\u00a0 My sweet carpool girls had already told me about the significance of the day, but in our haste to get out the door, I didn\u2019t ask too many questions.<\/p>\n

The final announcement explained that a sweet young boy, \u00a0a former student who passed away from a mitochondrial disorder the year before, would have been 13 years old that day.\u00a0 Students were asked to wear green (in support of those affected by mitochondrial disorders) and for a one dollar donation to the UMDF foundation \u00a0students could wear hats in school for the day.\u00a0 This was all fine and dandy but it was what happened at the end of the news that made me incredibly thankful for the Pledge of Allegiance<\/em> to regain my composure.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion, the sweet lady announced that after a small countdown, they (the entire school) would be collectively wishing Alex a very \u201cHappy Birthday!\u201d<\/p>\n

3 \u2013 2 \u2013 1 \u2013 \u201cHappy Birthday Alex!\u201d was loudly and cheerfully echoed from every hall and every corridor. \u00a0As the momma of a child who died at a similar age as Alex, my heart was breaking for his parents.\u00a0 I was also so sad that they probably didn\u2019t get to hear this amazing support for their son. \u00a0I was never so incredibly proud of a school that did not fail the memory of this young man, especially since due to his condition many of those well wishing voices perhaps never had the pleasure of interacting with him.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Looking back now, alarms not alerting and spilled tea might have been a bigger part of God\u2019s plan for me to realize a few ruined papers and one crazy morning are not the ruin of a day. He gently set me straight with an amazing reminder for us to celebrate \u2013 not just after loss – but in the small magical moments of the ordinary, because it is in the little stuff that the BIG stuff really matters.<\/p>\n

And rest assured. When my little girl came down to the office, I hugged her even closer while thanking God I got the joy of sharing in Alex’s big moment with her.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about mitochondrial disease and to support families like Alex\u2019s, please visit: \u00a0http:\/\/www.umdf.org\/site\/c.8qKOJ0MvF7LUG\/b.7929671\/k.BDF0\/Home.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Special note:\u00a0 It has been a while since I have given this reminder, but make sure to hug your children today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, we had a really rough morning.\u00a0 It was not my finest moment as a momma.\u00a0 My youngest whose normal routine for getting ready for school can best be described in one word \u2013 poky – was trying to rush us all out the door. \u00a0Even when the stakes are high, she is never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[1385,61,274,312,1386,750,1387],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}