It all started last week, and probably has some bearing on why I didn’t manage to post anything last week…just couldn’t make it happen. Somehow I had the mistaken impression that the child would be happy to return to school. We had a pretty good break (stomach flus aside) and she had asked when she would get to go to school again. GET to go. I thought that was a good sign. Uh…no.
Maybe she was just tired and still recuperating from catching her sister’s tummy bug (which extended her winter break by one day). Maybe her increasing academic struggles make her less excited to go. Maybe some social anxiety about seeing her peers again after a couple of weeks away. Maybe all of that rolled up into one. For whatever reason, “The drop that made the vase overflow” hit, and suddenly the brakes were full on when it was time to go to school.
She will go through her whole morning routine, admittedly dragging her feet a bit, but not actively protesting, but when it comes time to walk out the door…no go. We have a 2 block walk to school (thank goodness it is not longer), two tricky intersections to cross, and driving is not really an option. So on these “I don’t wanna go” mornings I end up pushing her, literally, to school. Thankfully I have learned methods to do this that make it look like we’re just a really chummy mommy daughter pair. My arm around her, meeting her backward pressure with my elbow and walking forward in spite of her stubborn feet. We have done this four out of five school mornings in the last week.
When we arrive at school she doesn’t want to stand in line or play before the bell. Just one more transition in her mind. Home to playground. Playground to line. Line to class. We skip the middle man and head straight into the classroom. Thankfully we’ve had wonderful teachers who understand that this is just easier. No need to explain.
When the bell rings, something magical happens (please don’t ask me what, because I have NO idea.) Suddenly everything is okay again and she smiles, says hello to her friends and gets busy setting up her desk. All is right with her world, anyway. My nerves, well, that’s a different story.
God give me patience for these days.