Would You Have Taken Your Child Out of School for This?

Today I surprised myself. And not in a, “Holy crap, what a dumb thing to do!” kind of way. (Which 9 times out of 10, isn’t really all that shocking.) I acted in a manner I would have never anticipated.

I had dropped Emmeline off at daycare. I was pulling in to the parking lot at Lena’s school when I received a text message from my husband informing me of breaking news. An inmate escaped from a local detention center during the middle of the night and was still at large. The holding facility was only a few miles from where my girls were going to be in school all day.

Without a second thought, I pulled right back out of the parking lot for Lena’s kindergarten and back to pick up Emmeline. Then we drove right out of our quaint little town and the hell away from any potential danger until we later learned the fugitive had been apprehended.

I didn’t know if he was a murderer, rapist, pedophile or someone accused of stealing someone’s mail. It didn’t matter. All that mattered in my head at that minute was the safety of my tiny people.

When I called the school to inform them of Lena’s absence for the day, they cut me off mid-sentence answering their question of ‘why.’ I could practically hear the eye rolling through the phone. Not too long ago, they also couldn’t figure out why I was upset when I found my five year-old wandering around the front of the school by herself. I just don’t trust the system. And, how sad that I feel like school is no longer a safe haven for our babies.

My husband was 100% fine with my decision.

I can’t take any chances with my baby girls. They are my heart beating outside my chest. After the hideous events of late, I am even more nervous about their safety in quotidian life. Does this action make me crazy? Perhaps. All I know is right now, they are home safe, robbing me of my will to live with their arguing.

By the way, they found the inmate – during school hours – less than two miles from my children’s school. He was serving time for robbery, but that information was not available at the time I made the decision to pull my girls from school for the day.

So I ask you, what would you have done?

Tracy Winslow is one of the top four funniest people at her address. She lives with her husband and two daughters in California. You can read more of their hilarious antics on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog, Momaical.