School = Frustration For Me!

So maybe I'm a little sensitive, I always have been.  Or maybe I just worry too much.  However, last Friday, I got a call at 10:00 am (2 hours after school starts, by the way) saying they wanted to know why my 5 year old son was absent for the day.  Of course, I was in the shower after my Couch to 5K work-out when the phone rang and it went to voicemail.

After I got the message a few minutes later, I started freaking out!! I had dropped my son off at school and walked him in the classroom myself that day.  So I immediately called back, my voice must have sounded rude to the office staff as I told her I had dropped my child off earlier that day (my voice was meant to sound very concerned but now that I think about it, it might have come across to someone as being rude).  So she asked me if I had been late dropping him off.  Well, the bell did ring that day as I was walking him down the hallway but I was already in the school a few feet from his classroom so instead of turning around and dragging him and my 2 year old to the opposite end of the school to get a pass, I walked the 10 feet to his classroom and took him in.  Little did I know, that the teacher had already taken attendance (before the bell rang) and since I didn't get him a pass, the office assumed that he was absent and called me at 10am (although I've always called him in absent in the past and have NEVER waited for them to call me first).  Anyway, the office staff, then said "well, that is probably why he was marked absent, we'll change it in the system" and then promptly hung up on me.  So then, I'm left wondering if they were going to check and make sure he is there or just assume that it was because I walked him in 30 seconds late.  Is it really that much of a sin for your KINDERGARTNER to be 30 seconds late????  Is that going to scar him for the rest of his life? Plus, may I add that the weather was absolutely terrible on Friday and in my opinion, should have been a snow day?

This is not the first time I've had issues with things at school.  I'm sure every parent does and that is why some people home school...which I have seriously thought about but really don't have the patience to do it with my very stubborn son.  This is the first time I've put a child through school, so I don't really know how to go about dealing with the school.  For any of you seasoned moms out there...do you constantly call/email the office with every problem, let them slide off your back, or what?  I usually let the small things slide but making sure my child is really at school seemed a bit important to me...and waiting 2 HOURS to make sure that child is accounted for seems a little ridiculous!

For those of you wondering, I actually had my husband call the office back right away as I was upset about how she handled the situation and the fact that she hung up on me and really didn't want to lose it on the phone but I REALLY wanted to make sure that my son was at school and not kidnapped or scared and roaming the halls by himself.  He called and they told him "well, he was marked absent because your wife didn't bother to get him a pass when she brought him in late."  I can completely understand if he was 5 or 10 minutes late but 30 seconds!?!?  Anyway, that is my rant for the day.  Am I overly sensitive? I am sure I will get a teacher who reads this and says "well, it interrupts the class, etc."  but 5 other students walked in behind him that day and it's chaos in the morning anyway in his classroom (I've been in his class often enough to know what the classroom is like when the bell rings).