Tap Out Tuesday

Why Tap Out Tuesday?  

I figured we all need a day where we can release ourselves from the day to day of teaching, parenting, adulting, etc.  So, use this space to tap out.  Each week I will share a moment that I need to be released from, a moment that knocked me off my socks and now needs to be sent out into the atmosphere.  I chose to "tap out" because of an experience I had when my daughter was in 10th grade.  It still haunts me to this day and even though we laugh about it now, we couldn't tap out back then.  I will finally release it here and take a deep breath.  A breath that once and for all cleanses me from that moment.

The call came in to my principal and then I was called to her office, where she handed me the phone.  We were also friends, so it wasn't odd for me to be called to her office, but when I had to go behind her desk and she motioned for me to sit in her chair while handing me the phone, I knew it was bad.  We have all made the phone call to parents where we say "everything is ok, but", well today I was being told that "everything was ok, but the paramedics are on their way just to be safe".  I could barely move.  My principal already knew so she was next to me, just in case I fainted.  I didn't, but I couldn't breathe.  My daughter had been caught in a choke hold in a game of "tap out" (she didn't know what tap out meant, so she didn't tap out) and she lost her breath

and fainted.  This happened in her high school classroom with a good friend of hers, who didn't mean to hurt her, but it happened and now it was bad.  She was fine, they let me talk to her and I cried.  I think her older sister was worse off because she was called out of class and rushed to the office to help her sister. 

When I got to the school, a resource officer asked me if I wanted to press charges (I did not) and we went home.  My husband had a different reaction, but that is a story for another day.  I tell all of you this because these games are games until someone gets hurt.  Fortunately, my daughter only fainted and she was fine within minutes.  This is not always the case.  

I taught first grade at the time and I went back to school the next day and told them the story.  My little ones couldn't believe that she didn't tap out!  I had never watched MMA fighting and have never watched it since then.  Not everyone is well versed in the lingo of such things.  There are families who don't know what that stuff entails. It was a lesson for me at that moment.  We live in a time where some children watch content that is not appropriate for them and where adults like me need to be educated on what is going on in the world, just in case.  

My little miss ended up going to prom with the boy who taught us about tapping out.  His promposal was "Don't tap out, go to prom with me".  They have been friends since third grade and are still friends today.  I am friends with the teacher who was in the class when it happened and I do not place blame on anyone.  We laugh about it and we even make "tap out" jokes within our family.  We can do this because the outcome was one where things ended up in our favor.  

Little Miss at Prom (2013)

Thinking about all that is going on in the world today, teachers and students may not be able to tap out if we are caught in a classroom with a shooter or someone who is there to harm us.  Be informed.  Be aware.  Teach your kids to say something.

What would you like to release into the atmosphere today?  Choose to "tap out" and let it go.