Yesterday I looked at the list of things to do today and I knew it was packed, but that I could get it done. I forgot to leave extra space for receiving a phone call from Gleek’s kindergarten teacher. I spent 10 minutes talking on the phone to my little girl who sobbed that she just wanted to come home. I then went down to the school to see if I could get a more coherent account of events. As usual there was a cascade of events that led up to the tearful phone call. There was some obstinate resistance from Gleek which the teacher tried to counter, but the counter move exacerbated the upset rather than resolving it. I sympathize with the teacher. Gleek often requires special handling and a different set of rules, but in a classroom setting the teacher can’t easily provide those. I sat in the classroom for awhile and talked to Gleek. I tried to help her think of happy things about staying at school. She did want to do those things, but she wanted me to stay with her. I couldn’t. I had to get home and pack. I knew that if I left Gleek behind she would feel abandoned and would probably spend the rest of her school day in tears. I couldn’t do that. So I prepared to take her home with me. Then as we gathered her backpack she saw what the afternoon project would be. She really wanted to do the project. She wanted to do it enough that she decided to stay even though I had to leave. The choice made all the difference. The rest of her day was happy.
Gleek’s school struggles need more of my brainspace come January. Until then I’m on vacation from that particular worry.
Around Noon when I posted my earlier message, I didn’t see how I was going to get everything done. By 7 pm it all pretty much was finished. Kudos go to Howard. He devoted his whole day to running errands for me and making sure that all the little-but-important things got done.
Tomorrow morning we all hop into the car for our vacation. I’m so glad.