A Crazy School Day

Yesterday will go down as one of the craziest school days I've had here. It is common for parents to ask if they can come in with a birthday cake on their child's birthday. They usually contact me a few days ahead and we find a time that works. We sing happy birthday in three languages and all have a piece of cake. Yesterday was William's birthday. He is from one of the families labeled VVIP which usually indicates they are related to the owner of the school and are afforded special privileges.  The mother's personal assistant came to the classroom door partway through the morning with a gigantic cake box in her arms. When I looked surprised, she said that she was here for the birthday party. I told her that the class was busy and that I hadn't been expecting her. By this time, William was aware of the cake and super excited. I told the PA to wait while we cleaned up and we could have the cake then. A few minutes later when I opened the door for her, an entourage followed; there were several siblings and cousins from various other classes and their nannies, a couple of aunts and uncles,William's private Chinese tutor, and best of all, their professional photographer! I asked the PA to light the candles so we could get started and she said, "Oh no, the mommy isn't here yet!" "Where is the mommy?" I asked. "Stuck in traffic," was the answer (of course). We played a couple of games, with the photographer snapping photos the whole time, while I was privately seething at the whole interruption to our day. I was just about to send everyone away when mom and dad arrived with a couple of extra relations. On with the party! We sang, had more photos, and passed out cake. That's when the  personal assistant mentioned that the lunch was late. "What lunch?" I asked.  A few minutes later boxes of pizza, burgers and fries arrived. By this time, I realized the morning was shot and decided to go with the flow. But, I guess they picked up on some of my frustration because this morning there was an apology in my inbox... not from the mom and day but from their personal assistant!