Parent Conference

Supply Day

My ex-husband, Dave and I got divorced three years ago, right as Lily turned two. It wasn't a pleasant divorce, but none were. We spilt apart mutually he wanted other things and I didn't know to be honest. I was scared for Lily's kindergarten year because I knew I would have to deal with Dave and his need to control everything. Lily was with me four days a week, so that meant pick up, feeding, extracurriculars, anything you can really imagine for four days. The rest of the week was dedicated to work and getting myself ready to see Lily. My life was a wreck and I needed to be there for her, so it took a day or two to put on a happy face. Dave didn't help with any of this mom stuff, and I don't know how he does in the dad area, I just make sure she gets there and back safely. When I saw Dave at Lily's supply day for kindergarten it surprised me, he hated going to any school related stuff. I went up to him " Weird seeing you here, " I said " Yeah Kelly wanted me to go " he replied " Ah, Kelly " I rolled my eyes as I said it. He's always been with Kelly since we split, I didn't mind her, she was fine, but she wasn't supposed to be a new mom to Lily. Dave and I gave playful glares to each other and suddenly we heard " Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Echo Lake Elementary! We are so excited to meet all of our new kiddos! "
It was a tall, blond, woman, who was maybe in her 30s. She had about the same attitude as any kindergarten teacher would. I looked to my right and Lily was biting her nails, " hey, don't do that, what are you nervous about? " I said with a soft tone " Mommy I'm scared what if Ms. Smith doesn't like me? " she gave back in a hesitant tone. I kissed her cheek and reassured her. The same lady came down the stage stairs and stared going up to kids and talking to them. She stopped at Lily and said " Hi Lily! I'm Ms. Smith your new teacher! " Lily's face instantly brightened and smiled. " Oh, hi mom and dad! I see you have your supplies for Lily, can you follow all of us back to the classroom? " Ms. Smith looked directly at me while she said it. We promptly followed her to the classroom while Lily clinged to my side the whole way there. Once in the classroom, Lily found her desk and we started unpacking her things. After unpacking I had to give Ms. Smith her tissues, why does every teacher need tissues? I walked up to her and said " Hi Ms. Smith, I'm Lily's mom, " she interrupted me half way " Kenna! Yes, Lily talked about you a lot when we first met, " she smiled as she said it.
" Oh well, I was going to give you your tissues we bought, but Lily's dad forgot to bring them, so I will have to go to the store really quickly and grab some. " I replied " Oh no! No need to do that, you can drop them off at the first parent teacher conference! " she beamed " Perfect! What day is that? " I tried my best to smile in reply " the 27th!" Shit, I didn't actually want to drop off these stupid ass tissues at the parent teacher conference, but I just signed myself up for one! After more talking about Lily and the classroom it was time to leave, thank god. I didn't like this whole school bullshit, because I knew Lily didn't either. The whole car ride home Lily talked and talked about Ms. Smith and what she had to say about anything and everything. It was deafening. It was Dave's night with Lily, so while she babbled about it I drove to Dave's. I parked into the drive way and got out of the car. Lily spoke " Mommy, what time are you coming to get me tomorrow? " " 2 o'clock! Right on the dot! " I knew she loved when I said " on the dot! " so I decided to add that in. We exchanged hugs and kisses and I left her with Dave. The drive back home was short and I'm so glad it was, I needed to be home. Once I got home I tried to find my phone, but just ended up finding my apple watch. It had a text message from an unknown number " Hi Kenna! This is Ms. Smith! You left your phone here and I just wanted to tell you! You can swing by the school if you need it immediately, I will be here until 7! " How many fucking exclamation points can you put in a text. I groaned and started the car again making my way to the school.  The parking lot was empty except for one little grey SUV obviously running on fumes.  I get out of the car and make my way up to the class and cringe as I get ready to know. I think " what if Lily's embarrassed that I forgot my phone? What if Ms. Smith sees me as a bad parent? " I knock as my intrusive thoughts stop and wait for the door to click.  30 seconds pass and I can take a hint, so I make my way down the walkway when I hear " I'm so sorry Kenna! I was just putting stuff away in my mini-fridge "  I walk back into her classroom to a space filled with tiny desks and colors everywhere, it feels so lonely here, not like it was two hours ago.  Ms. Smith welcomes me in with a big smile.  " Nice place, you have an eye for designing " I say " Thank you! I just got done with everything and stocking the mini fridge full of juice boxes and snacks for the kiddos, " she says.  She is so much more beautiful up close, she notices me looking at her and turns away.  " Here's your phone, sorry about that. " she whispers " Not your fault, I'm just all over the place today. " I smile. We stand there looking at each other for a second until she breaks the silence " You know I think Lily will really do a great job this year, she is super smart and funny. " I laugh " why do you say that? " she clears her throat " It's obvious about the humor, she is just funny, but not in a bad way. With her intelligence I can just tell, she gets it from you. " my face goes red " Well I mean she is special, but I wouldn't think she got her smarts from me " I touch my forehead while I say it " One day you'll find out just how smart you are and you will be amazed by what others have been seeing in you. " she almost brought me to tears. I smile at her and start walking out of the door, " wait! what days do you not have Lily? " she yells " Thursdays, Saturdays, Tuesdays. " I yell back, " Well I'd love to get coffee with you sometime, Kenna, " when she said my name my world went blank, she said it so softly and pronounced it differently than others.  I nodded in approval and made my way to the parking lot.  Then I realized, did my kids teacher just ask me out?  No, it was just coffee.  Even if it was just coffee I thought about it for the rest of the weekend until Lily's first day.  When I took Lily to school, I made sure to be the last parent to leave and asked Ms. Smith " so when are you thinking about doing coffee? " I whispered to her " this Thursday at 6, pick me up here. " she said with a smile.  I kissed Lily goodbye and waited for Thursday at 6.  The week went by fast, surprisingly, even if I was waiting for a 30 something year old to go out with me.  It wasn't even a date, what was I thinking? Just coffee.