The call came in around 1:45 p.m., roughly 15 minutes after Sutton had left her second day of Mother’s Day Out.

“Well, they sent a note home with her,” Ieleen, my sister-in-law, who keeps Sutton during the day, said. “I hope they don’t have detention at Mother’s Day Out.”

For those of you who don’t know, Mother’s Day Out is sort of like an abbreviated version of day care. Sutton goes to a local church’s program, attending one day a week for four hours a time. She went for the first time a week ago and despite the nerves of all family members, she made it through fine.

And then there was last week.

Sutton’s note detailed the event: “Sutton has a bump on her head. She was sitting on the floor and all of a sudden yelled “Mommy!” and threw her head down on the floor.”

Oh, that’s all.

“Is it a big bump?” I asked Ieleen.

“No,” Ieleen said. “In fact I couldn’t tell the difference between that and the other bumps and bruises she gets on a daily basis.”

“Good,” I said. “We’ve seen that move before. We call it the full frontal facial flop. She does it when she’s mad.”

Being a good mom or at least trying to be, I talked to Sutton when she got home that day.

“You know you really shouldn’t throw your head down on the floor,” I told her as she grabbed her favorite stuffed animal. “I realize you probably wanted mommy but I wasn’t available right at that moment but remember what we said about mommy always coming back to get you?”

She didn’t respond. 

I continued.

“You have to be good at Mother’s Day Out,” I explained. “And throwing yourself down and pitching a fit only hurts yourself as you can see from that big knot on your head.”

Sutton didn’t respond, opting instead to drag her stuffed animal into the living room where the rest of her toys were.

When Greg got home that evening, I explained to him what happened and asked his advice.

“Did you talk to her?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “But I don’t think she really understood.”

So I guess we will have to wait and see how this week goes. Either things will go fine and we will proceed or she will have another full frontal facial flop and get kicked out of Mother’s Day Out. 

I guess time will tell.