"Hi, is this Cole's mom?": the Halloween edition

It's 2:45 p.m., and my brain has turned to mush.  I have about 20 minutes before the girl-child gets off the bus. All I can think about is a shower to wash away last night's Halloween festivities and today's brain cobwebs.

I turn on the shower and make it nice and hot.  I find my towel and place it nearby.  I evict the dogs, even, from my 15 minutes of sanctuary.

I step into the shower, and the hot stream hits my back.  I sigh and move to submerge my head under the wonderfully hot water, and-

Rrrrriiiiiiiiinnngg.  Rrrrriiiiiiiiinnngg.  I freeze.


WTF?  Seriously? *sigh*  I'm not answering it. Who is it?  God help me, it's the boy-child's school.

I pick up the phone with a sense of foreboding as my hot water continues to flow in the background.

"Is this Cole's mom? Hi, this is Mrs. [Teacher That Always Gives Your Son Conduct Marks]."  

Crap crap crap.

I turn the hot water off in defeat.

"Cole isn't having a good day.  He's been with me since 1:30 and he's already gotten 3 conduct marks.  I can't get him to stop talking in the hallways. He did bring us candy today, and I was wondering if maybe he had some of it."

Well, of course he did, because I expressly forbid him to do so, caught him in the attempt, and reiterated my directive not to take candy to his teachers or anyone else.  So, why not?  Never mind the money I spent on sugar free candy to replace the Halloween haul.

I thought I would steal 15 minutes of tranquility.  Ha.