Humiliation...

It happened last week. I was completely and utterly humiliated by my son's preschool teacher. My day was off to a great start- I came bouncing down the preschool hallway not only showered by with my hair dried AND makeup on. Trust me, I was not often seen this way at my preschool! I was in a great mood- my husband and I had just returned from a ten year anniversary trip sans kids. Not only were we without the kids for five glorious days, we got to explore a foreign country as well. Never mind the exchange rate against the euro was horrendous, it was definitely worth eating mac 'n cheese for a month to relive my jet-set days again. The threat of impending jet-lag couldn't even bring me down, I was recharged and revitalized. I was ready to throw myself back into the world of carpool, homework, and the dinner time scramble. Little did I know my world was about to crashing down with these five words uttered by a preschool teacher in the hallway..."Can I talk to you?" By the look on the teacher's face, I feared the worst- my three year old had bitten someone...maybe his mediocre enunciation was a sign of serious speech delays...But no. It had nothing to do with my son. It was all about me. And my husband. We had recently sent in family photos and as often happens, there were many pictures of my husband and two kids. Many pictures of me and the two kids. And many pictures of the two kids. But no pictures of us as a family. The teacher was concerned- was everything okay with my husband and I? Were we getting a divorce? The whole exchange was so surreal, all I could manage to get out was "Uh no, actually we just got back from our ten year anniversary trip" and flee the school. Back in the car I was pissed. And embarassed. WHAT was that teacher thinking? Why on earth would you stop someone in the middle of a hallway during morning dropoff to ask about their marriage? What if my husband and I were going through a divorce? And finally, my mind started to spin in circles. Why did the teacher think we were getting a divorce? Simply because of a lack of family pictures? Because my husband and I were rarely at the same events? Finally I shook my head and sighed. It was time to shake the whole event out of my mind and chalk it up as one more part of being The Married Single Mom.