There'll be days like this...

I know that not every day can go as planned, and that you can't count your chickens before they're hatched, and that when life gives you lemons you're supposed to make lemonade. I do, I know all of these things, but today I had a mini-letdown, and it has completely ruined my I'm-on-vacation-nothing-can-get-me-down mood. It all started a few weeks back...As you know, Cody has been attending my school for his kindergarten year. It's been great and we've both enjoyed the time together, but recently I found out that due to budget constraints, next year class sizes will be going up to 29 in first grade. This got me thinking...maybe we should enroll him in a school near our house for the remainder of his elementary education. We've vacillated back and forth on this front many times, but this was the fabled "straw that broke the camel's back" for us. So today, armed with official documents, a new pen, and fresh perspective, I skipped down to the local school district to sign up my boy. And that 's when I was introduced to the woman who would (with a smile) suck the wind right out of my sails. When I told her my purpose for coming she was quite helpful, at first. She gave me the required paperwork and offered me a pen. I cheerfully filled out said paperwork, growing more and more comfortable and excited even, about this decision, as I did so. When at long last I had printed and signed my name for the last time, I marched back up to the counter ready to hand over my paperwork, Cody's birth certificate, and the required address verification documents. When I'd gone over this in my head the next step was clear... she'd stamp an official seal on my documents, smile kindly, wish me well, and say, "see you in the fall." You can imagine my shock, and subsequent feelings of betrayal, guilt, and heartbrokenness when instead, she chuckled (really, she literally laughed at me), returned my paperwork (unstamped I might add), and said, "you DO realize that you are 10 days late to make any such requests." To which I stammered something about how the website said...blah, blah, blah...and how I was trying to do the best thing for my child...blah, blah, blah...and then promptly turned around (unstamped, painstakingly filled out paperwork in hand) and fled the building before she could see me cry. I know...real mature, but I did, I cried the whole way home as I thought about how much I wanted that change for my kid, and about how this was the first time that I had really let my kid down (even though he had no idea any of this was going on), about how I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, and then, about how I was going to make something positive come from this new set of circumstances. But even now, several hours and many deep breaths later, as I sip my lemonade, I can't help but taste the bitterness in my mouth (even though I added a LOT of sugar).