On the first day of school, it was pick up time and I quickly turned onto the busy Woodlands Parkway from my neighborhood and started accelerating with my mind racing: “How was Avery’s first day in Kindergarten? How tired was she going to be? Did Andrew wear his mask all day? Was he a big helper in his classroom? Did Allie wow all of her teachers with her summer factoids? Did she figure out her locker combination?”
As the questions kept coming in my mind, my foot kept pressing the gas accelerating towards the school thinking about their day, the Delta variant, virtual schooling, and all the worries of the pandemic starting to set in again.
Then I saw them. Two police cars parked on the shoulder of Woodlands Parkway.
One had already pulled someone over, red and blue lights flashing, and was issuing a speeding ticket. The other was parked just behind him, waiting. I immediately lifted my foot off the gas, knowing I was going over 20 mph without even looking down. The waiting parked police car started to flash white lights as I passed him. Ugh, he caught me. How could I be so careless? My mind was racing and I needed to get into carline quick! Let’s get this over with, so I efficiently pulled over in front of the police car. He never even had to pull onto Woodlands Parkway to follow me. He never even turned on his red and blue rollers.I put my car in park, rolled down my window, and got my driver’s license out. I prepared myself for the usual shpeel – do you know it’s a school zone? Did you know you were speeding? You need to be more careful.This is how our conversation went when he calmly approached my car while I literally shoved my driver’s license in his hands:
Officer: “So, you know, I wasn’t pulling you over.”
Me: 
Officer: “I literally was just waiting for one of my buddies and then you pulled up in front of me.”
Me: “Are you kidding? I’m sorry it’s the first day of school.”
Officer (smiling): “Oh, I know its the first day of school, my wife is a teacher.
Me: 
Officer: “You were going 28 mph but I wasn’t going to pull you over OR give you a ticket.”
Me (blushing): “Is this the first time in your career that someone has pulled themselves over?”
Officer: “It sure is ma’am.”
Me (reaching for the cookies I had just baked): “Do you want a cookie?”
Officer: “That’s okay ma’am. You have a nice day.”
So just so you know, kids are not the only ones who get the first day jitters. These times are starting to get tough again with the Delta variant, mask mandates, and kids going back to school in all of it.
And yes there is a first time for everything. This time, I pulled myself over. 