A Mom Arrived To Pick Up Her Kids From School, But A Substitute Teacher Questioned Whether She Was Really Their Parent Because Of What She Was Wearing
Canva
School pickup routines can become surprisingly confusing when friendliness looks suspiciously like employment.
This paint-splattered mother knew the staff and students well enough to help another parent sign out.
Instead of recognizing her as a familiar parent, one substitute made a very different assumption.
Things got stranger when she tried leaving with her own children.
Not a teacher…Just a mom.
“I (33f) have 2 boys (5&3) in our local Pre-K/TK program.
The program is integrated Special Ed and General Ed, so there are more educators than you might expect (6 to care for the 12 Special Ed students, and 2 for the General Ed students, with the class size maxing out at 24 students.)
This is my 5 y/o second year at this school, and I’m pretty friendly with the teachers and para educators.
Most of the Special Ed students are also returning students and are very friendly with me from drop off/pick ups where I wait and converse with them and their parents.
3 in particular are huggers, and their moms have given permission, so I don’t think twice before hugging them and interacting (asking if they had a good day at school, is that a new sweater, etc.)
The educators all wear a break away lanyard with photo ID (about 3x5in) but otherwise dress pretty casually.
It is not uncommon to see a substitute…kids spread germs so quickly.
She wasn’t dressed up on this day…
On this day, I showed up to pick up my children in an oversized, paint stained t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, paint covered pajama shorts, and flip flops with my hair in a messy bun and also paint splattered (if you couldn’t guess, I had been painting while they were at school… The ceiling got away from me a bit.)
As per usual, I was rushed by children to come say hi and give hugs before even my own kids came over.
The pick up process includes signing them out on a tablet, which I was waiting patiently to use while now talking with my boys.
Sure, she’d give it a shot.
A substitute interrupted and said “um, he needs help with the tablet” and pointed to a new parent. I said “oh! Ok, I’ll see if I can help” because I’m just friendly and had helped my husband and mom set up their own accounts last year.
Got him squared away, signed my own kids out, and told them it was time to go and headed for the door.
That same substitute stopped my younger son and said “Oh! Not yet!” So I stopped just short of the door holding hands with my older kid, thinking that someone must be coming around the door from the other side.
After a couple seconds, I poked my head out to see nobody there, the substitute still guarding the door, so I said “ok boys, it’s our turn, let’s go home” and took my little guy’s hand too and tried to walk out.
The substitute put her hand on my son’s chest and stopped him again, telling him he needs to wait for mommy. She then looked at me and said “they can’t leave until their parents get here.”
This teacher wasn’t listening.
I told her “ma’am, I’m here to take them home, I’ve already signed them out.”
She looked at me confused and said again “no, they need to wait for their mom or dad.”
I just looked at her and said “I’m not sure how to say this differently, but I don’t work here. I’m their mom, I’m just here to pick them up.”
She made me wait while she went to get one of the regular teachers to confirm that I was in fact not a poorly dressed substitute who she hadn’t seen the entire day she’d been supervising my kids.”
Check out what folks had to say about this on Reddit.
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
This person shared their thoughts.
Another individual spoke up.
This person chimed in.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a neighbor who documented times of noise spikes and turned their neighbor into a model tenant.
Another Reddit user shared their thoughts.
The substitute trusted this mother to assist another parent, then repeatedly stopped her son from leaving until his mother arrived.
Even after she explained that she was Mom and had signed both children out, a regular teacher had to confirm her identity.
Nothing says secure pickup like requiring a witness after Mom identifies herself as Mom.
Enjoyed this story?
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
