Was That Really Necessary?

Photo by aprilzosia

I got a phone call today from The Girl’s school. The very nice nurse called to tell me that The Girl felt like she was going to throw up. So, I called Brian, and he went to pick her up.

While I was waiting for Brian to call me to tell me if she was ok, I started thinking that she probably wasn’t sick. She tends to overreact to any little feeling in her stomach (ie, a stuck fart, the need to burp, you get the picture) and says she has to barf. I told my coworker that if it was something like that, I was going to be really mad. Then Brian called and told me what really happened, and I wasn’t mad anymore. I was furious and very worried about my little girl.

For those of you who do not live in earthquake country, we had a statewide earthquake drill this morning, The Great Shakeout. Some places went as far as to have volunteers pretend to be hurt or trapped so that emergency personnel could practice procedures. This, in itself, is a great thing. However, The Girl’s first grade teacher decided that it would be prudent to show a video of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Complete with devastation. To include people (by The Girl’s account, it was children) who were injured and bleeding. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? I totally understand the need for the drill, and I would even condone an animated video or even news footage, but 6 year olds do NOT need to see blood and gore. If it was a fire drill, would they show some kid running around on fire??? I think not.

So, back to my story. The Girl is incredibly sensitive. She cannot even handle cartoon blood. The thought of a loose tooth becoming bloody makes her want to forgo the Tooth Fairy and keep her baby teeth forever. So, of course, she became extremely upset seeing the images from the 1994 earthquake. Of course, I wasn’t there, but I’m guessing she had a full-fledged panic attack, which she interpreted as having to throw up. By the time Brian got to the school, she was fine and wanted to stay, buy of course, they couldn’t let her.

So, now I have to decide how to handle this situation. It is not ok that she got to come home because she was scared, and we treated her as though she was sick, making her lay on the couch all day. Basically, we did that to drive home the point that she can’t just say she’s sick and get to come home and play. But, what do I do on the school end? I really would like to rip the teacher a new one, but clearly, I have to work with her for the rest of the year, and I need her on our side. But she needs to know that The Girl cannot handle that kind of video.

What should I do??? Any suggestions?

Update: I wrote a letter to The Girl’s teacher explaining my concerns.  We have conferences next week, so if she doesn’t call me before then, I will talk to her about it at that time.  I’ll keep you posted.

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