Be kind to (mothers of) the homeless

The other day at school B was too busy to go to the WC on time and leaked in his pants. And we're not talking a couple of drops; this "leak" would have impressed a seasoned plumber-- even his socks were wet!

So it's freezing outside and luckily a compassionate aide found a change of clothes for him before he went out to play. After school we came home and got sucked into the usual hectic routine before heading out to S's soccer practice several hours later.

Once there B and I went into the canteen to drink a cup of coffee with one of the other mothers. For some reason I'm always really clumsy around this woman-- I drop things, I interrupt her conversations with other people, I walk into walls. I get the feeling she thinks that I grew up in a barn somewhere and that my parents were siblings.

So there we are talking and I'm proud because I haven't spilled anything on myself yet. And I see her looking at B's socks. So I look too, and I'm surprised to see that they're pink, with little hearts on them. Oh yeah, that's right. school socks. whoops. But I don't want to embarrass B so I redirect this woman's attention back to our conversation.

And she's a nice person, so she didn't ask whatever questions were forming in her mind about my taste in children's clothing. It's warm in the canteen, and so B takes off his jacket. All of a sudden she stops talking and her jaw drops.

And it's only then that I fully realize my folly-- I hadn't even thought to change B into his own clothes when we got home, and somehow I hadn't noticed the pants. Blue nylon track pants that are completely pilling and are so stretched out that they've lost their form entirely. Shiny, horrifying synthetic material. If B wasn't wearing rubber souled shoes he might have spontaneously combusted when his legs rubbed together!

And what does one say in a situation like that?

"Ha ha. Yes, the school seems to have run out of their designer line this afternoon." or

"Gee, I must have had one scotch too many not to have noticed that outfit..."

I thought about pinning it on M. I thought about running away to Chicago. In the end I just glossed over it all and finished my coffee with my obviously homeless waif on my lap. And the sad part is that I was relieved because at least he wasn't dirty...