First day of school adventure

The day began innocently enough. I awoke at 6:00 a.m. and readied myself to swim some laps at the community center. I swam, showered and returned home by 7:00. We had breakfast, said goodbye to Darryl, read together, got the kids dressed and fed, and took some pictures by the front door. She looked depressed in the first picture...
...so I asked her to smile...

...this is the best we got.

We piled in the car, and made our way to pre-school. Eliana found her name-tag, placed her backpack in her cubby, and found her seat. I sat with her for a few minutes, then gave her a kiss and left.

Will and I took some stuff to D.I., got the car washed, went grocery shopping, played outside, then went to the library (right next to E's pre-school) to waste some time before I needed to pick Eliana up at 11:30. We played with puppets, read books, played with puzzles, found some books to take home, etc. I set an alarm on my phone to be sure I picked Eliana up on time.

We left the library at 11:20 and made our way to the pre-school. I thought it was odd that no other parents were around, but five minutes still remained until dismissal. Will and I played by the door for a few minutes, then I got a message on my phone:

"Hi Shauna, this is ______ from the pre-school. We still have Eliana here. Perhaps there was a miscommunication, but her class ends at 11:00..."

At this point I hang up and rush through the door to pick up my "forgotten" daughter!!! AAAAAK! She was playing quietly on the rug while the next class was in session. She didn't have any tear-stains on her face, so I think she was fine. I felt like the biggest IDIOT!! How did I get the time wrong?!?!?! I looked at the papers several times before the big day. I guess it was wishful thinking on my part.

In any case, I explained myself to the teachers, filled out a contact sheet so they can inform me more quickly the next time I mess up, and made my way out of the school. Eliana seemed to think the whole thing was pretty funny, and kept saying, "Mom, you're so silly! You came at the wrong time!"

So, hopefully no long-term damage has been done. She enjoyed her first day, and is excited to go back for more!

By the way, I listened to the rest of the message later, and saved it on my phone, because it so funny. The person is so nice--trying to give me the benefit of the doubt while still informing me that my daughter is waiting for me. It's great.