Day 404: Highs and lows

The first Quest class was filled with happy excitement and much laughter.  The student leaders taught the kids the knot game and directed "Find Someone Who."

But, on the other hand, we turned away four girls who did not get their materials in by the deadline yesterday.  Plus, there were two boys who also planned to go but never did the paperwork.  We would like to take every 8th grader, and it hurts to disappoint them.  Two of the girls did not have their parents attend the required meeting, so there was no question on them.  Another said that her dad knew about it and he'd get it in next week.  The fourth was the heartbreaker.  She turned in her stuff this morning.

We might have worked out a way to accept her if only her mom had not called and threatened us.  Wow.  She didn't appreciate how rigid we were on the deadlines and she didn't know it was Feb. 6.  And blah blah blah filled with acid, sarcasm and rage.  The deadline is only printed on every single paper we distribute and the principal only announced it twice a day every day for the past two weeks.  But the child, should she suffer because the mom was wrong?

My head is pounding.  I am no good at unpleasant confrontations.