Wednesday, March 12, 2008

At least I didn't trip over my tongue (this time)

Not the most graceful of souls in balanced times, the addition of a bolded b belly* has thrown off my center of gravity. I blame my shoes too - wobbly slides that threaten to slip off if I lift my feet too far off the ground. They're perfect for pregnancy (no laces, no heels) but if I get distracted, I just can’t help but add an extra trip step to my walking routine.

I shuffle stepped Caroline over to school today since Will had an early presentation to give and C wanted to show me her school artwork. After admiring a brown rabbit (an original drawing) and a bowtied duck (identical to all of its sibings - I suspect teacher churn out), I helped C change into her playclothes. She showed me off to several friends, we kissed and I turned to leave.

Suddenly, Pani Director was by my side, a sheaf of papers in her hand. Summer term documents, I must sign immediately.

"That's right," I confirmed, "Caroline will not be in school for July, she has camp then. On the other hand, I’d like to sign her up for August, we don’t know exactly the weeks we'll be in town, but we will shortly and of course we’ll pay for the whole month since that is the only option."

This lack of August organization kindled fire in Pani Director’s eyes, her voice raised to a sawlike pitch and she began to complain about the difficulties of working with foreigners - their inability to make decisions, how they thought they could pull children out of school at any time. I turned off my ears and pretended to not understand the rudeness. I reminded her we had six months till August, I was sure all would be resolved well before then. She counted the months on her fingers (satifyingly fat and rather stubby), and seemed surprised to find it true. I reminded her again that I was paying for the pleasure of my inconsistency, bid her good day and left, carefully managing not to trip over my shoes until I was well out the door.

* bolded b belly = how C remembers the difference between small b and p right now.

4 comments:

Kelly said...

You sure have a thick skin, especially for a 7 1/2 month pregnant lady :)

Julia said...

C has another year at that school, I had to put a lid on my temper. But note the snarky comment on fingers - steam does come out one way or another.

8 months yesterday!

Anonymous said...

geez louise! 6 months away! our school sends the notes home too, asking. We have NO idea yet. I wish you'd snarked her one, though, she deserved it.

Karla said...

How irritating! Reminds me a little of the way my last landlords here used to send out an inquiry every year in February as to whether I would be renewing my lease in the summer. They weren't disagreeable in person, though. I also usually had a pretty good idea that I'd be renewing the lease.