Monday, January 16, 2012

Guilt

Ugh, I feel so incredibly guilty right now that I just have to write it out and share and hopefully that will get rid of the knots in my stomach. No I haven't murdered anyone. It seems silly when it is written out, and I guess that is the idea. Lucas missed his afterschool tennis class. There, I said it. Of course it isn't as simple as that. There was limited enrollment for this program. Lucas has wanted to learn tennis for a few years now so I was very excited when his name was drawn as one of the grade 3 participants. When shortly thereafter he was moved to grade 2 I realized that it would be a little more challenging in that he wouldn't be with his classmates both on a friend level and on a reminder to go level. First class I had made sure he knew to go to it. But he was told by someone at school that it was only for grade 3, so he came home on the bus. No problem. Second time, he was feeling unwell and came home on the bus. Hmmm. The instructor emailed me asking if Lucas had changed his mind and reminded me that there were other kids wanting his spot if he wasn't going to come. I assured him that Lucas would be there next time. Today. And he wasn't. I forgot to remind him this morning. He is 8 so it isn't all my fault. He should be able to remember these things too. I thought to call his school to ask the front desk to remind him. Huh. Writing that out makes it sound a little like helicopter parenting. But I forgot to call the office between coming up with the idea and getting to a phone so the point is moot. And now he has missed all 3 of the classes so far. Now he is going to be behind technically, when he already isn't exactly the most naturally athletic child in the world. Argh. I still feel guilty but the knots have gone away.

Thanks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you a single parent?

MT said...

Nope, just an over-developed guilt complex. I think it has to do with my (pathological) need to control everything and have everything go as intended. Doesn't seem to bother Chris, except that he is insisting that Lucas apologize to the instructor, which I totally support.