A Brutal School Day for Cole

Cole had his 13th day of school on Wednesday. It would be his sixtenth, but he had the flu by the end of week 2, so we kept him out a few extra days. On Wednesday, he came home with a shiner, and small cuts under his eye. He also came with a note saying that hand, foot and mouth disease might have been something he came in contact with… this is only day 13.

I was less appaulled by the illnesses, though if this is the start, I can only imagine the horror to come when the actual cold/ flu season strikes. What killed me was the eye wound. He gets a comment card home most days, and this day was no different. The comments section was empty as usual though.

I reached out to his teacher and she called me, and assured me that “if she’d noticed the injury, she would have used first aid and would have notified me. Then she went through his three hours, listing off numerous places he may have injured himself. I was WAY more concerned after hanging up the phone. She also tried to assure me her own kids had been so sick at times that strangers in the grocery store pointed it out to her because she didn’t notice obvious symptoms… this was her idea of assuring me my child was safe in her care?

Right now, we’re trying to get to a financial and logistical place where we can move to a better school district. We both didn’t want to send him back to school. People online assured us that this happens to their kids too, and its part of the experience, but I refuse to accept that my child had a bloody black eye for up to three hours and the teacher hadn’t even noticed by the time he left. I’m horrified! No words will make me not horrified by this.

Please share your experiences. I would love to also hear from people who moved their kids from one school to another, and why you chose to do so.