Mommy Buddy behind bars....

....not really but it sure felt that way!

Me and Vice Principal Mr.H are walking down the stairs to his office. I was totally blown away that I had remained as calm as I had, meaning I had not cursed and had not raised my voice to ANYTHING it was aching to do.

"What do I do? Withdraw my son?"

"You have that right but you have to leave after the campus police get here."

"If I'm banned then they are too."
He's silent.
I look at him and say, stone face, "You have made a huge mistake Mr. H. This is a collosal overreaction on your part...."

"I disagree."

He refused to talk to me again until we reached his office but the look he gave me....I don't think he had let it sink in. I had challenged him, and then called his bluff.

He made sure to inform me that I would  not be allowed on campus until/if the administration for the district decided to let me. He said that I was facing criminal trespassing charges. He handed me a tissue.

As we sat down he started to go over, a little, the reason I had come, the communication...or lack there of.
"You see the sheet you sent in is just not the right format. We need to have a conference with everyone involved so we can determine what will work best."

"Oh you mean the conference we(Meaning the principle, his boss and Emerson's teachers) are having a two? The one that I can no longer attend without further breaking the law?"

"Yeah you're going to have to call Ms.S(principle) and work that out."

"...You want ME to call her and tell her we can't meet? because you decided I needed to be banned?? You want me to ask her if we should MEET AT Starbucks or something??"

"...Or I could call her."

"Good idea...
      ...no. On second thought, my husband will be attending THAT meeting, ya know since I don't want to be arrested."

At this point the two nice officers came in.

"Ma'am you understand that you broke the law and are being charged with criminal trespassing?"

"I guess....but if I was really in trouble why didn't you call the real cops? Bexar county sheriff?"

"Ma'am we are the real cops. If Bexar county had been called they would have wanted to know where we were."

"Well you can charge me with whatever you want. I didn't do anything wrong."

"But you did ma'am. This man here is pretty much the law. If he tells us you would not comply with him then we do what he says. The law gives him that right."

"Do you know what Autism is."

"Yes"

I explained what happened

"...I did nothing wrong and I'd do it again."

"No ma'am you won't. You will be charged and arrested."

"Okay so this back and forth? We are arguing about my OPINION?? You're not going to change my mind. I did nothing wrong. Period.You can not arrest me for my opinion. Arrest me if you want but my opinion is not against the law."

We all fall silent for a few minutes...

"This is comical..." I say quietly, sort of to the chair next to me as I dry my drippy face.

"I disagree Mrs.____"

"Well, I guess I'm just more morose than you Mr. H"

A few more min pass...I turn my phone on silent and take a picture of the officers. I still can't believe this is REALLY happening....

Mr. H:
"Okay I have some things I have to take care of so you need to wait in the lobby."

"...okay..." I get up. I see one of Emerson's aids. She gives me a look like "What is going on??"

I walk into the hall with both cops behind me, "I'm being arrested!" I say loudly, the loudest I have spoken as of yet and probably the only time up until now that could be considered impulsive.

The "younger" gets in front of me, my nose to his chest.

"That is your SECOND warning. You won't get another."

"I'm sorry....where are my children? I thought I was banned?"

I go to the lobby and wait for the kids. From my text I know my husband jetted out of work and is on his way.

Now I have to sit and silently cry where people can see me. Great.

Emerson arrives. He doesn't like seeing me upset so I try to hold it together. We just need Meadow and then we can bolt.

The principal surprisingly arrives and calls me back to the conference room. I have Emerson in tow. The officers are in there and so is Mr. H. Mrs.S starts going over how I was wrong, but I am NOT banned from campus, just for the rest of the day, she can not stress that enough....about as much as Mr. H stressed that I was banned and being charged. This is bringing it all back, threatening my fragile calm.  It's a blur after this. A few minutes later my husband shows up. This is where I start to loose it.
The VP and the principal are both trying to convince me that I was wrong and that I was being confrontational.  They continue to talk over me, but I'm the one being confrontational?   I asked the principal if she were in my shoes,  would she have been able to just walk away?  She agreed that she probably would not have been able to. 

The next few minutes are  a bit of a blur with the two of them trying to get me to see their point.  A point I don't agree with.  After it became clear to them that their approach STILL wasn't working,
 the principal said something like
 "Well I tried." with a hint of irritation and superiority.
"Are you kidding me?! You tried? You TRIED?? ((I)) TRIIIED!!!! These fine officers back here are a very LARGE reminder of THAT!!"

Now the principal is telling me that I need to calm down.  I turn to the VP and talk directly to him.  I tell him that I need him to answer a question.  I asked him if my level or irritation and my behavior RIGHT NOW in the moment inside the conference room was the worst he had seen from me.  I was trying to prove a point that I had BEEN calm. All Mr. H. could do was stare, then say "I don't see how that's relevant right now."

I told them both  "I WAS leaving!  I was TRYING to leave, but you had me come back into this room, just to re-open a fresh wound?" 

Both the kids were ready and the conversation was CLEARLY not making any progress.
  I knew it was time to leave.  My husband and I grabbed our kids and left the school, trying so hard to keep my composure until I was in the van.As we walked outside I saw the police car and decided to take a pic of myself in front of it. I let my self cry with that symbol in the back ground so I will never forget how today felt.

I got in the van and called MY mama.