Playground Rodeo

Every June we see posters for the Livermore Rodeo, but we've never been.  But now the school brings the rodeo to us -- presenting "The Playground Rodeo!" Before you start feeling jealous that your PTA isn't so clever, this rodeo is far from exciting. It's actually the euphemism for "long presentation about all things you can't do on the playground." I won't even start on how strict the rules are, but you get the idea: no running, no flipping, no having fun.  Nettie mentioned during dinner last night the low point of her day was standing in the hot sun for "hours" at the Playground Rodeo. Jenna declared with a smirk that Fifth graders don't have do the Rodeo, because they already know the rules.

This morning around noon, I biked to a friends house to pick up Hal from a playdate. Just as we started out Ryan pulled up with a frantic honk or two. "Hurry! Get in the car! Jenna's at the hospital!"
I couldn't have been more shocked. How could Jenna be in the hospital? After ditching my bike and climbing in, he handed me the phone and I listened to a voice mail from the school principal. In short the principal said she was riding alongside Jenna in an ambulance to the hospital. I called the principal back and she relayed to me that Jenna had been sent to the office when she looked pale and weak. Once there, she seemed to get worse and complained of blurred vision. The nurse and principal tried calling both Ryan and I, but neither of us picked up. Since we got the whole scenario second hand it's hard to piece together how it all happened but in short, they called 911. The dispatchers came and thought Jenna needed further testing, and so it was off the emergency room.

Once Ryan and I arrived at the hospital, we found Jenna in the ER and to our relief, she was ok! All her vital signs came back clear and she actually seemed a little pleased with all the attention.  It's certainly not every day you get whisked away from school in an ambulance! Turns out Jenna had been outside in the sun at the Playground Rodeo listening to yard duty's wax on about each item of equipment. Jenna's condition was really nothing more than heat exhaustion. Some juice, crackers, and a little down time had her back in good spirits. As we waited in the ER I'll admit I was a little miffed at all fuss and expense over pretty harmless symptoms. But then again, I was the one who failed to respond when they called me. (Cell phones! Why does it seem harder and harder to reach someone by phone when we are on them all the time??) I'm grateful the school was looking out today for my Jenna.

Later this afternoon I was telling Marielle about all the "drama" she missed out on while she was at school and she summed it up pretty good. "Well, at least now they'll know to shorten that Playground Rodeo! I mean if you have ambulances showing up to take kids away, that's gotta be a bad program!" Now let's see if we can get the school to take the hint...