A few years ago I was working in my classroom after school. It was nearly time to pack up and hit the road when a student came in with his parents. Poor Percy looked very grim. His mother, Kerry, introduced herself to me and then to her partner, Sherry, who firmly shook my hand while saying, "I'm the other mom". Kerry had long hair and makeup and was wearing shorts, while Sherry had very short, close cut hair, a cap and long, baggy cargo shorts.
Percy had not been turning in his homework and his parents were there to find out what to do about it. We looked through the list of assignments that he could make up and I went about sorting through it all, giving him the necessary papers. Normally, Percy was smiley and outgoing, cheerful and quick to make a joke. That afternoon, he was a solemn, serious wreck. I didn't know if it was because of the hot water in which he found himself, or because his two moms were there. He wasn't the first student to have two moms, nor would he be the last, but he didn't know that. Kerry and Sherry were very grateful, thanking me profusely for allowing Percy to make up the work and for giving him all of the papers again. When they left, I headed off to talk to Percy's guidance counselor before I quit for the day.
I entered the office and said, "Hey, you know Percy Smith - his parents were just here!" The counselor, Suzy Q, responded with, "yes, I just got done talking to them!" I asked about the details of their visit. Percy and his parents had recently moved to our state from far away, and his parents were concerned about the dive that his grades had taken, as well as his behavior at home. They spoke about many things, including the fact that he was following one of the parents around, getting underfoot a lot. Suzy Q pointed out, "Obviously he wants to hang out with his dad!"
I interrupted the tale and asked, "what dad?"
"His dad!", the counselor responded, annoyed by my interruption.
"What dad?", I persisted.
"The dad that was here!", she replied.
"There was no dad!", I insisted. "That was two moms!"
"No," Suzy Q said slowly. The realization was flickering in her eyes.
"Yes!" I nodded eagerly. "Two moms, Kerry and Sherry! Weren't you listening when they introduced themselves?"
She thought for a moment. "They didn't introduce themselves to me!"
"Aha!", I cried, "that's why they were so sure to introduce themselves to ME!"
I thought back over Kerry and Sherry's entrance, how they both clearly identified themselves to me, and Percy's obvious discomfort. Poor Percy. For a teenager, I am sure it was bad enough to be in trouble, worse to be dragged back to school by his parents, doubly worse that his parents were two moms in our conservative little hamlet, and worst of all, one of them was mistaken for a man. His grades didn't drop for the rest of the semester.
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