Standing outside the gate you wait for your child to appear
after finishing their after school activity so you can make the journey home.
They told you it ends at 5 o clock and you’ve arrived with
10 minutes to spare so here you stand eager to get back so they can start on their
homework and you can get on with dinner.
Groups of children emerge from the building, climbing into
parents cars or onto the school buses parked outside the entrance.
The vehicles pull away and small groups of chattering
pre-teen and teenage boys start to disperse and walk away.
But you’re still standing there waiting, no worries you
think , he’s probably just stopped to chat to someone or is making sure he has everything
he needs for this evening
He’ll be out in a minute you say to reassure yourself but as
5 minutes past 5 ticks over into 15 you start to sense maybe something’s not
quite right here.
A member of staff driving out of the gates asks if you’re ok
and you explain who you’re looking for but this being only their 2nd
week, the name isn’t familiar.
“I don’t think they’ve all come out yet” they say” I’m
expect he’ll be along soon” and promise to look out for him and send him back
if they see him on their way after being given a rough description of him and
his rucksack.
You wonder if maybe he came out a bit earlier than expected
and has wandered round to your usual end of the day meeting place and
whether you’ve missed seeing him as you’ve
come from a different direction because you
chose to catch the bus back but a walk round there proves unfruitful .
So with your heart now beating frantically as panic starts
to set in you hurry back round to the school gates where a group of boys sit
waiting for their parents on a tree stump and ask if they know whether the
after school event is over to which they reply “ yeah, ages ago “ .
Seeing the worried look on your face one of them sensibly
says “maybe you should go and ask at the office “and quite by a stroke of luck
one of the office staff happens to be just on their way out of the gate at that
moment.
Despite being loaded down with all the items she is taking home,
she listens to what your predicament is and advises you to stay put while she goes
and has a good look round the school to try and find him for you, even putting
a call out across the tannoy in case he is still inside.
Then with almost perfect timing as she walks back to tell
you she can’t find him and what you could maybe do next, your mobile starts to
ring and there is the elusive ones name flashing up on the screen who upon you
answering the call innocently explains that he’d thought as you weren’t there
when they’d come out a bit earlier than expected that you weren’t coming and had
assumed that meant he had to walk home by himself.
You are cross with him for about a minute then you let the
feeling of relief flood over you and rush home after expressing your gratitude
to all those who had come to your aid.
So this is a thank you from me to them.
Thank you to the boys who told me what was the best thing to
do, my brother who looked after my other son while I was out searching and most
of all to the lady from the school office who went out of her way to try and
locate him for me.
Thank you to you all from this grateful mum, it was much appreciated.
GIRL FROM THE NECK DOWN COLUMN - MEDWAY MESSENGER 22/09/14
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