I Just Want You to Know_ Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family - Kate Gosselin [41]
I felt so guilty about how I handled everything. After everyone was in bed, I journaled about the events and prayed for patience—again. It was late and I didn’t know quite how cheery I would be in the morning when I greeted them, but I knew all their smiling faces would help. And of course, their “Hi Mommy” voices would make me melt. Thank goodness for their grace!
Every mom knows what it’s like when something unexpected interrupts her day. But with eight kids under six years old, a single event could change my day from calm to chaotic. With two six-year-olds and six two-year-olds in one house, one event would trigger seven others until the neatly stacked dominoes of the day toppled into a heap.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007, was yet another one of those days. Although it wasn’t funny at the time, I can now laugh about the series of events that took place that afternoon.
The morning went smoothly, and I was feeling quite accomplished. After lunch, the older girls went off to school and the little kids went down for a nap. For weeks, I had been waiting for a conference call with the Discovery Health Channel, the executives in charge of our show. It was scheduled for that afternoon.
Promptly at two o’clock, I called the number I had been given. Each of the participants on the call introduced themselves, and we’d just gotten into the heart of the discussion when the phone beeped. I glanced at the caller ID and saw it was the girls’ school on the other line. It was 2:17, and there wasn’t a good reason for them to be calling me unless there was trouble.
“Excuse me, but my daughters’ school is calling and I need to take this call. I’ll be right back.” I switched to the other line.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Kate. This is Mady’s teacher. I’m sorry to bother you, but Mady has a bloody nose.”
I could hear Mady crying hysterically in the background.
“She’s really upset and she wants to come home. Do you want to talk to her?”
“Yes, please put her on.”
The sound of Mady’s crying intensified as she got closer to the phone. “Mady, Mady, calm down. Are you okay? Tell me what happened.” She was crying so hard I couldn’t understand what she was trying to say. I quickly realized I couldn’t do anything over the phone. “Listen, Mady, I will come and get you just as soon as I can find someone to sit with the little kids. Please calm down. I am coming to get you.”
The Discovery Health executives would have to understand. I clicked back to the conference call. “I’m sorry but I am going to have to reschedule this meeting.” I hung up before they had a chance to reply and frantically dialed neighbors to get someone to stay with the six. For normal families, it would be as simple as putting a kid or two in a car seat to make a quick run to the elementary school. But for me, it meant waking six kids from a nap, changing six diapers, and trying to buckle six crying babies into six car seats by myself. It just wasn’t practical. After a few calls, my sister-in-law was available. Thank goodness!
While I waited for her to get there, I went to the bathroom to comb my hair. I wasn’t one of those people who had to get dolled up just to leave the house; at that time I often left without any makeup. Getting pretty took time I just didn’t have then. But when I looked in the mirror that afternoon, my appearance scared even me. I jumped into the shower and did a ten second rinse off. I barely dried off and got dressed while I was still wet.
When my sister-in-law arrived, I rattled off instructions while grabbing the keys and heading to the door. My imagination got the worst of me on the ride to school. What condition would Mady be in when I got there?
As I ran into the school building, the sight of Mady surprised me. She was sitting in the office smiling and apparently happy. I think the whole commotion embarrassed her. I felt so bad for her. I hugged her, signed her out,