Scared Straight

I was in a marathon meeting yesterday at work. When it ended at 2:30, I saw that there was a message waiting for me on my work phone.

"Hi Mrs. C, this is _____ from the Children's Aid Society, could you please give me a call?"

I immediately called back, left a message, and then.....I waited......

To say that I was worried would be an understatement. My mind was racing - had I yelled at one of the girls in public lately? (Let he who does not have the worst brought out of him at Wal-Mart cast the first stone.) Did the lunch we sent to camp with K actually qualify as abuse? (Honestly, all she agreed to take was a bun with butter!) Did the alarming number of mosquito bites on the kids' legs show that I am a neglectful parent? (We're a tasty family, what can I say?)

Eventually the woman returned my call, and very slowly said, "Mrs. C...I received a message from a colleague....[Frankly, at this point I thought I might throw up] ... "

It was regarding a VERY random work question. She didn't seem to have much of a sense of humour when I let out a huge sigh of relief. (She should be thankful I didn't burst into tears.)

DH thought I was being silly, but I defy any parent to sit for an hour waiting for someone from CAS to call them back for an unspecified reason and not get a little antsy.

So, now the great experiment begins! Did this scare me straight? Am I going to cheerfully answer every  request, even at 7:10 am? Am I going to smile understandingly when dinner is rejected with an eye roll or a gagging noise? Will I enthusiastically sit through an episode of Austin & Ally?

Probably not.

But you'd better believe I made some promises to God during that long hour, and I intend to keep them.