It said, "Happy Hallowe'en Mom", right in my ear. I opened my eyes to see which girl had said it, but my eyes weren't ready to focus right away and she was already scurrying away. My eyes focused just enough to see a little head bobbing away as she scurried out of my room. Based on the messiness of the hair (hers is curly, her sister's isn't) and the height of the girl, I think it was this little munchkin:
Soon I looked at the clock and realized we had slept in. I decided not to care. I told Talia she wouldn't make her bus and we just got ready at our normal pace- I even had a shower before I left (I had to- I didn't wash my hair yesterday and I wasn't willing to face the school secretary without showering this morning!)
I was proud of myself for not rushing or getting stressed. Talia & I left for school calmly and happily, talking about the fun day ahead of her. She had her costume in a bag under her arm and rubber boots on her feet (it is raining today- ALL DAY LONG... but it's not snow, so we are thankful for that).
We walked into the school and I signed her in. When you sign your child in, the paper on the clipboard asks you to write the time, the child's name, teacher, reason for lateness, and parent's signature. I filled everything out except for the reason (glancing at the few lines above where reasons were "flu shot", "doctor's appointment", "mom late"). I tried to think of a way to state my reason that sounded responsible and unavoidable but I couldn't do it. So I wrote, "Crazy Morning". And I drew a winking happy face. I hope the secretary has a sense of humour. On the way home, I thought that I might have written "missed bus" or "slept in".. but those aren't really responsible sounding either.
And then I decided not to worry about it.