What's Wrong With This Picture?

I like to say that absent-mindedness is a sign of intelligence. Mostly because I can't blame my forgetfulness on other things (old age, pregnancy, etc.). . .

Two weeks ago, I took Mikie for a haircut. The "salon" (I don't know that you can call the kiddy equivalent of Hair Cuttery a "salon") looks you up in the system based on the last four digits of your phone number. One small problem: I could not remember the last four digits of my phone number. After 30 seconds, I succeeded in blurting out four digits. As the girl struggled to find us in the system, I realized my mistake and said "Wait, no, those are the last four digits of my social security number." So, now everyone knows I have memory issues. Instead of pulling out my cell phone to look up my phone number, I stare at Mikie, as if my five year old knows the answer. He didn't. But, eventually, I did come up with the number, and we succeeded in getting Mikie's haircut.

I thought that was bad. I can remember every ingredient in every one of the thirty-five formulas I have launching this fall, but I can't remember my phone number. However, today trumped all previous not-so-senior moments. . .

Today was Mikie's kindergarten orientation. Mike took the afternoon off and drove an hour and a half to attend. As Mikie dragged us around every inch of the crowded, un-air conditioned classroom, Mike comments "They have Hannah's birthday." Not sure what he meant, I walked over to the birthday board to see this:What's wrong with this picture? Mikie was born on September 6th; HANNAH was born on February 19th. Why would the teacher put the wrong birthday down? Because Mikie's mom cannot accurately fill out simple school enrollment forms correctly.

And so, I made a GREAT first impression on Mikie's teacher. My first time meeting her and I had to say, "Hi, I'm Lauren Trahan, Mikie's mom. I don't know my kid's birthday."

Small consolation: if I'm bad for writing down the wrong birthday, how bad is the administrative office that didn't think to question why they were admitting a kindergartner born in 2009?

Love, The Trahans