As evidenced by my frantically throwing pencils, erasers, and glue into last year's backpack this morning for Penny's first day of first grade, I'm not sure I'm getting much better at this school-mom thing.
Last year I bought all of Penny's school supplies at an overpriced bookstore here in Brasilia, simply because I didn't really understand the list, and it was easier than translating and researching each item myself. I returned about half of it after I realized I could buy stuff like construction paper online for 1/7 the price. The store was awesome about my returns, and they gave me store credit without an expiration date.
So this year I did my research and bought as many of the school supplies online as I could. They should be arriving by next week or so. Oops.
But there were a few things I still needed to buy in Brazil, so I headed over to the bookstore to use up my credit. Timing worked out such that I was wrangling all three kids during our shopping visit. They were well-behaved and lovely, but it still adds more stress and distractions, as you can imagine.
I bought enough stuff that I filled up an entire box with supplies. In order to get everything and everyone out to the car, I put the box on the stroller, put William on the box, and held onto everything as we wobbled down the street. I packed the kids into their seats, buckled everyone up, and then headed to the tailor's for our next errand.
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| First day of first grade! |
The next day I noticed that the back of the car was all cleaned out. I thought, "Well, that was nice of Kevin to bring the stroller and everything inside when he brought in his clothes."
And then it hit me.
I couldn't remember how I'd actually fit the stroller and box into the back of the car.
Because I didn't remember putting it into the car.
Because I left the stroller and the box of school supplies on the side of the road outside the bookstore.
Oh, how stupid can you get? Ugh! I don't do stuff like this more than every decade or so, and I felt so incompetent.
As soon as I could, I drove back across the city to the bookstore. Of course the stroller and box were gone. No one had returned it to the bookstore, the tire store I parked in front of hadn't seen it, and the lady working across the street didn't know anything about it either.
It's embarrassing to tell people just how dumb you are-- especially in terrible Portuguese, which really reinforces the stupidity:
Me: "Have you seen a stroller with a box? I leave it on the street over there when I am parking here yesterday."
Lady: "Oh, what was in it?"
Me: "School supplies."
Lady: "So someone broke into your car?"
Me: "No. I leaves it on the street."
Me: "No. I leaves it on the street."
Lady: "Where is your car now?"
Me: "Over there."
Lady: "Did they rob your car?"
Me: "No. No problem with the car. It's just about the stroller and the box. I leave it over there on the street."
Lady: "You just left it on the street."
It sounded stupider the more I talked about it, and crying didn't help my cause much, either. I had hoped someone had put away my stuff for safekeeping, and while I wasn't surprised it wasn't on the street 24 hours later, I was disappointed.
Lady: "Have faith in God. It will all be alright. Go with God."
Me: "Yes, I know. Thank you."
I knew it would be okay. I had prayed to find it, if it was there, and it was gone. I had to think that whoever took it would use it. I mean, the stroller was 6 years old, faded, and kind of gross, but it was in very useable condition-- which is why I still used it. The school supplies were all in a big box with a receipt. And so even if they didn't need the uniforms, they could go exchange them for something they did need.
Or whatever.
Someone took my stuff. It's lame, but it unfortunately didn't change the fact that I had to get my daughter school supplies before the first day of school.
So when I went to repurchase everything that had been in the box (the stroller is a lost cause-- the baby can already walk, and we have a better stroller anyway), I went to a cheaper place. I thought I could find most of the school supplies at the art store, but unfortunately, I really didn't find much beyond paint and glue. So back to the original (rather overpriced) bookstore.
I walked in and everyone recognized me. I felt kind of dumb coming back, but I had to buy uniforms again, so there weren't many other options!
Cashier: "Chelsea, right?"
Me: "Yeah. Hi!"
Cashier: "Are you back because you heard we found your stuff?"
Me: "What?!" (My verb tenses aren't very good. Did they find it? Or is it "if we found it"?)
Cashier: "Yes! A lady came by. She had tried to return it to the address on the receipt (we moved...), and said to come talk to her if you returned."
Me: "Awesome!!!!"
She was one of several women working at a churrasquinho (little BBQ kebab stand) down the street from where I'd left my box. I had to wait half an hour until it opened in the evening, but when I talked to the ladies there, they opened their car door, and there was my stuff!
I told them how I had been distracted with my three kids and just drove off without it, and they said, "Yeah, we figured it was something like that."
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| A couple of my favorite distractions |
I'm very happy and grateful for all the good, honest people in the world. A lot of them live in Brazil.
