One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

After last year’s run in with the school over my son not having a seat on the bus, I looked forward to a nice quiet year this year. Not so fast. You are going to love this one! You have got to love the public school systems. They have become so large they are just as bureaucratic as our federal government.

This morning my son announced that he did not feel good but he hesitated to miss school. I told him to give it a try and call me if he needed to come home early. His last period is an extra period this year because he takes math at the high school early in the morning and then attends middle school. He peer tutors this extra period.

He texted me between classes (cell phones are to be turned off in class but are not banned) telling me he was not feeling good and wanted to come home and not attend the last period. This is the first time this has happened. I went to school to pick him up and made the mistake of telling them I was picking him up because he wasn’t feeling well. I was told I needed to talk to the school nurse.

The school nurse, let’s just call her Nurse Ratched to protect the guilty, advised me that my son was not to call me but he is to come to her office and she decides whether or not he is sick enough to go home. I took a deep breath – I took several deep breaths. I told my son to go talk to the nurse and I went to the administrative assistant desk. I was told the assistant principal was not in and the principal was not available. Another deep breath. Relaxation breathing not working – I am almost hyperventilating by now. I feel hair growing on my face, my nose getting longer and then Mama Bear made an appearance.

I let the administrative assistant know that whether or not Nurse Ratched decided my son was sick enough to go home or not, I intended on walking out the door with him. I let her know as his parent I would determine whether he was sick enough to go home or not, not Nurse Ratched. I also let her know that having an employee of the school tell my son that he is not to call his parent(s) was not a good idea and could pose a ‘problem’. I would understand if they want him to make the call to us from office, but don’t tell him he can’t call us. And by the way, I told her, I predict my son will not be getting sick and having to go home early anymore. I suspect, however, that I will be picking him up early more often for doctor or dentist appointments (he he – there is more than one way to skin a cat).

Nurse Ratched decreed my son sick enough to go home and we went on our merry way. Like she was going to stop me from taking him home. By the time my son gets out of high school I will be the one not flying over the cuckoo’s nest – but in it!