My Knight In Dirty Scrubs

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

It is time for another True Story Tuesday! Go check it out HERE. for some fun and laughs! And, now for my very own true story...

Before I had kids of my own, I taught third grade in the inner city. And, by "inner city," I mean there were bullet holes in the windows. Yeah, not the kind of neighborhood you dream of raising your kids in. I had a love/hate relationship with that job. Those kids needed me, but their parents were a mess. (And, I am being kind here.) I usually met about 40 percent of my classroom parents during any given year. Sometimes the meetings were delightful and sometimes they were anything but.

Which brings me to Shayla and her mother.

Shayla was about 5'3" and 150 pounds in the third grade. (So, I am exaggerating a bit. It makes for a better story, OK?) She was definitely a classroom bully. She liked to call the shots and she loved to pick on the weak. She was tough, as were most of the kids in my classroom. They had to be, considering the neighborhood in which they lived.

But, there is always a weak one in the bunch. James was about 3'5" and 40 pounds. (Stay with me here. I am trying to tell a good story, remember?) He was the only white student in my classroom and he defined skinny and scrawny.

Shayla hated him. That was obvious from the first moment that I met Shayla and her mother. Together, they requested that Shayla and James never sit near each other. Shayla's mother insisted that James had spent the last 2 years bullying Shayla.

This was laughable. To this day, I don't think Shayla's mother ever laid eyes on poor little, scrawny James. I mean, if Shayla sat on James, he wouldn't have had a chance. It was obvious that Shayla was indeed the bully in that relationship.

Shayla's mom spent the first 2 weeks of school calling me about random problems on the bus, in the classroom, and on the playground. Problems that only existed in Shayla's imagination.

Then it happened.

One morning Shayla's mom made her way to my 3rd floor classroom. All 400 hundred pounds of her. (No, I am not exaggerating now.) It was before school. The hallways were empty and quiet. It was clear that she had not reported to the office first and she wasn't in a pleasant mood. She quickly entered my classroom and proudly placed herself between me and the office call button. It was like a movie. I glanced around the room looking for an escape to the hallway. I was cornered and she knew it. She was yammering on about "the bully" James as she was slowly coming nearer. She reminded me of a mad cat. You know how they puff up to twice their size? Yeah, she did that!

I don't even remember what she was saying. I was terrified that she had me cornered and I was all alone.

Next thing I know, Nurse Boy walked right into my classroom. (He had had a stressful night at the hospital. He drove several miles out of his way to see me before he headed home to bed. Something he had never done before.) Shayla's mom backed off as soon as she saw him, even though Nurse Boy and I both know she could have taken him. He was my knight in dirty scrubs.

Turns out Shayla wasn't the only bully in the family.

But, she never bothered to come up to the classroom uninvited after that.

Thankfully!