Have you seen my soapbox? Oh, wait, here it is!

Thursday night I went to the BYU football game over in Orlando and did not get home until about 2am.  Needless to say I was not exactly moving at lightning speed on Friday morning.  In fact, I decided to sleep in a little and make everyone's life a whole lot easier by checking my kids in to school about 30 minutes late. The policy at McKeel is that if your child is tardy, meaning, they come to school any time after 8:35am, they get a "fine." (They work on an economy system at McKeel where they earn fake "money" for coming to school every day and then they have to write checks and are given fines for infractions of the rules. Yeah, whatever.) Here is the issue: on Friday when I checked them in late, Cindy received a fine, right there in front of me at the front office desk (by a very smug office lady) after I signed her in. Why?  Because my explanation of "I wasn't feeling good and needed more time this morning" is not an APPROVED reason for her to be tardy. According to the handbook, having a note from a doctor's office is the only reason a tardy will be excused.  On what planet does this makes sense?  First of all, my child is ten.  They know that, right?  She has no control over my decisions.  She also has no control over whether I lose my keys, get a flat tire or even whether or not she might need a little extra time in the bathroom one morning. Things happen. But secondly, and more importantly, I AM THE PARENT, you buffoons!  Do not tell me what I can and cannot do with my child or what is and is not acceptable as an excuse to be tardy.  I. don't. owe. you. an. explanation.  I can take my child out of school at any time, for any reason or be late at any time for any reason. You don't get to be a part of that discussion. Furthermore, this policy also essentially means that at McKeel it is better to miss and ENTIRE day of school and NOT receive a fine, than it is to come to school 30 minutes late and be penalized. This makes absolutely no sense. Almost as much sense as a car line that crosses itself twice and feeds back into....itself.  I mean, who in the world would come up with something like tha- oh, right.