Okay, so I'm not having the best week of my life. I had no sooner posted a really whiny whine to Phantom Scribbler's Wednesday Whine thread when the proverbial scat struck the oscillating temperature-control device.
Firstly, my whine was that some of my Girl Scout parents ambushed me, and really said some hurtful things. It made me very upset, and now I question why I've devoted four years of my life and almost ALL of my free time to people who clearly don't care what they say to me, or who are even taking in the tenets of the program to start with. It left me feeling very discouraged, and wanting to quit, which is a major step for me. And, then my mother called.
Now, my mother has the habit of having one tee many martoonies and calling me up to serenade me with her karaoke favorites. When I heard her voice on the phone on Wednesday night at ten-thirty in the evening, I assumed that she'd been doing her Patsy Cline impersonation again. BBzzzzt! Wrong answer, but thank you for playing. Her appendix had burst, and she was being rushed (well...*rushed* isn't exactly the term, since she'd been in the ER for about 12 hours at that point) to have an emergency appendectomy. Now, apparently my Mom is going for some sort of frequent-flier award at El Local-o Hospital-o. Around five or six years ago, she rolled her motorcycle, injuring her knee. She had to have, for all intents and purposes, a knee replacement after that little escapade. About a year and a half after the knee, she had to fly to the Midwest for a conference for work, and the doctors think the long flight loosened a clot from the knee, and she had a pulmonary embolism. Thank God it wasn't fatal, and was caught in time. Now the appendix. It's not that she doesn't take care of herself -- she does, a lot more than many "grandmas" her age. (She'll be 60 this fall, and is more active and vital than many people 25 years younger. Me included.)
When she was wheeled into her room after the surgery (at about two in the morning), the first thing she noticed was a metallic gold paper star above her hospital room door. She said, still loopy from the anesthesia, "I musta been a good girl, 'cause I got a gold star!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Good grief! Hugs to you, KLee, and a rapid recovery to your mom.
What Phantom said.
Big, big hugs.
So sorry about the crappy treatment from the Girl Scout mothers. You probably get more than enough of that as a teacher, if my experiences are in any way representative. But all the time and energy and corncern you put into it tells me you're doing a great job for those girls, as well as for your students and anyone who says otherwise is an ingrate and an idiot.
And I hope your mom is recovering nicely by now, appendixless but otherwise fine. Peace to you and yours.
Thank you all. PS and Liz -- I appreciate the moral support. God knows I've surely needed it this week. It's a sad testament that you all, people whom I've never even met, seem to care more than people who I'm supposed to be close to.
Corny -- Thanks. You have hit the nail right on the head there. I don't expect them to strew flowers at my feet, and laud me with praise when I manage to inhale correctly, but a kind word once in four years deosn't seem too much to ask. and, not to be tag-teamed for trying to provide thier daughters with a good Scouting experience.
I think their attitude is what hurts the most. That I have given freely of myself for four years, only to have my efforts mocked and derided. They have no clue as to what goes into the position of responsibility, nor would they take it on if asked. It's just one big dilemma at this point, and I don't see any satisfactory result.
Personally, I think you deserve a gold star for not inflicting bodily harm on the GS mothers. I cannot believe that they have they nerve to bitch at you despite the fact that you have to spend a lot of time, take tests/training, etc to be the troop leader.
So sorry about your mom, but very glad that she is ok. I hope this week is much, much calmer.
Sending lots of hugs your way, KLee! I am so sorry to hear about the ungrateful parents. It's imcomprehensible to me how they could not appreciate the time and energy you have devoted to entertaining and educating their daughters - for four years, no less. Grrr. It's not an easy thing to do and, yet, you did it willingly and with so much enthusiasm. If it's any consolation to you at all, my hat is off to you!
Also wishing your mother a speedy recovery and hoping that she doesn't have cause to visit the hospital again anytime soon.
La Binsk
Post a Comment