And Now....Mrs. Bluebird Guidance Counselor

The other day I'm in Our Happy Little Portable, doing my thing with a handful of kids (it had been a calm week) when The Guidance Gramma calls.

"Hello Mrs. Bluebird, I was wondering if you could spare a  moment.  I have a student here who really would like to talk to you.  If you want, I could bring her down to your room."

Okay so this is a bit odd, I think,  but I do have quite a few kids who think of me as Second Momma (it's that Tough Love School Momma Thing I have going according to The Principal), so I figured it must be one of my breakfast bunch who come out in the morning to eat breakfast and chat.

"Oh really?  Who?" I ask, thinking it could be any number of kids I know.  They all seem to have issues.  That, however, is middle school at its best.

"It's Runaway Girl," she says.

I pause for a moment.  I don't recognize the name.    I am completely dumbfounded as to whom she is talking about.

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name," I spit out.  "Are you sure she wants to talk to me?"

"Really?  You don't know her," said Guidance Gramma.  I can hear her talk to a kid, most likely sitting at her table in her room.  "Do you know Mrs. Bluebird?"  she asks.

Muffled voices.

"She says she doesn't know you but her best friend, 2nd Period Aide Girl, says you're really awesome to talk to, so she would like to.

Ah.  So now it makes sense.  I apparently got a referral.

"Mrs. Glamour is here to watch the kids, and I need to run into the building anyway so I'll swing by your office," I tell her.

So, I go in the building, do my quick errands, and then drop by Guidance Gramma's office.  She gives me a brief introduction and then offers to let us talk in private in her office.  She, along with the student teacher (student counselor?) who is with her leave.

So I talk to Runaway Girl and get the whole story, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...give her my advice, and after about 15 minutes she seems a lot happier and we open the door.

And I feel really awkward because, in reality, I just kicked the Guidance Gramma out of her office to do counseling with a kid who would rather talk to me than her, and she's the Professional!

Okay that was weird.

So Runaway Girl scampers back to class and Guidance Gramma and her student person ask me what I told her and of course, it was the same thing they told her (thank goodness, I was afraid I'd screw something up.)  Guidance Gramma thought the whole thing was funny (another, whew, thank goodness) and in truth it was.  I mean really, how weird is that that some kid you don't even know wants to talk to you about their life problems, just because her best friend suggested it.

But apparently I have a reputation.  And need to start thinking about some counseling in-service opportunities, apparently.