Mom for a Day

T-shirt, Brian's Etsy Shop

Academia: I may not have kids yet, but that doesn't stop me from feeling like a mom at work sometimes. Yesterday morning, we got a voicemail from a very young student's mother, entirely in the student's native language, saying that her child was sick and someone needed to take him to the doctor. I tried calling the student, but the phone number we had was wrong, so off I went to his apartment. He didn't answer the door when I knocked, so I had to get the manager to go in and check on him. I was starting to imagine the rest of my day spent in the ER with this kid who was too sick to answer the door.

Well. He was fine. He had a cold, and had been sleeping the deep sleep of teenage boys when I knocked. He had no idea his mother had called and didn't want or need to go to the doctor. I told him to call me if he changed his mind, and for heaven's sake, to please call his mom and tell her he was okay.

I also told him to drink lots of fluids and get some rest. Then I went back to work and nagged students who hadn't gotten their immunizations yet. I'm sure my future kids will be thankful for all this mom practice I'm getting now. Good grief.

Sartorial: I think this blazer makes the t-shirt and jeans look a lot more authoritarian, don't you? On days when I have to be a mom, authoritarian is a good way to look. People take my nagging much more seriously that way.