Ugh. Seriously.
At 4:00 I got an email from a caregiver requesting a conference time. Conferences began today at 4. The link to sign up has been at the top of my newsletter for 5 weeks.
5 weeks.
Yeah. I lost my bananas. LOST. MY. BANANAS.
I cannot even squeeze her in. I am booked solid–and I hate it when I am booked solid–I am never on time.
I had the sense enough to shut my computer and walk away. I visited with a few people, ranted to my good friend and grabbed a snack. Then, and only then, could I begin to work on this situation.
Do I really want to see this caregiver? Yep. Do I need to see this caregiver? Yep. Is this going to be a fun conference? Nope. Is is worth it? Yep.
After I looked over the schedule, I could see a way to solve the situation. Lucky for me, I have a person in my class whose caregiver teaches in the building. She had already spoken to me about how she was flexible in her scheduling and how her spouse wasn’t driving into town for the conference.
So I down the hall I went. I explained the situation to her. She generously agreed to change her conference time to tonight in order to accommodate the late comer. This in no way, shape or form was her emergency. Nor was it mine.
I am tired. This is the kind of stuff that is just so draining. This caregiver totally and completely expected me to accommodate her late request. Then she expected me to adhere to her scheduling needs. She expected me to ‘find’ her an appointment–which I did. But she was completely willing to have me stay later than necessary or meet on another day in order to accommodate her schedule with no regards to my time.
When did we get so incredibly selfish? And can it be fixed? #justsayin’
The Hays Crew 
This is definitely one of the hardest parts of teaching. To make it worse, it is indeed those kids who need it the most that seem to fall into the difficult-conference category. I’m glad it worked out.
I agree. And it’s not the little human’s fault his people aren’t taking care of business.
My favorite paragraph: “I had the sense enough to shut my computer and walk away. I visited with a few people, ranted to my good friend and grabbed a snack. Then, and only then, could I begin to work on this situation.” Some good sense you had there!
It was a miracle!
I agree that this is one of the most frustrating situations in teaching. It feels like we bend over backwards to accommodate and then get taken advantage of. You are incredible for finding a way to make it work and the kid will benefit from it!
Ugh. I hear this post loud and clear. I had a very similar interaction with three families this afternoon. Conferences are on the calendar, the calendar’s been out since August, and it’s clearly posted that make-up conferences are not a school policy. But…what if they really need one?! 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ I applaud your strategies of taking a break to vent, regroup, and get back to finding a solution. You’ll be my inspiration as I tackle this one again tomorrow!