We’re a month in and it’s going… alright. There are good things and bad things about it.
The good things include that I no longer need to hold my breath as I wait in the car line after school to pick her up, worried she’s upset or that the Principal is about to call me, or that she “doesn’t feel good” or that someone picked on her today. No weepy, whiny child at the pick up line. No pick up line at all, in fact (which is a blessing in itself).
Now when I pick her up on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays she is a happy girl. Except for one day when I inadvertently immediately gave her the bad news that they gave me the wrong bagels at Einstein Brothers and not the ones she wanted. I didn’t think it would cause quite the melt down it did, seeing as how she’s ten. Her meltdown over something so trivial is so typical for a kid that can’t seem to control her emotions very well. I should have let it go. But I got mad. And when I get REALLY mad I end up crying. Which makes her very sorry. So that wasn’t a good day. But at least it wasn’t because of school.
Today she happily bounces to the car and shoves her gear in the back seat. Did you have a good day? I ask. Yes! Today they had the sweetest Mad Hatter Valentine’s Tea Party that you ever saw. They made hats and had an actual tea party. The tables were covered in patchwork quilts and there were fairy lights and balloons. The effort these teachers go into, and especially the head, Miss Tiffany, is extraordinary.
Every morning Baby Girl gets up happily and gets herself ready for school. She makes an effort to look cute and dress nice. She lets me brush her hair. Pig tails are her newest “look” and we carefully craft them every day. I still make her lunch for her, but she has not yet forgotten anything she needs for school. She wears her mud boots every day because it has been rainy and cold and they are outside a lot. They have a firepit they all gather around at the end of the day when they are waiting for parents to pick up. They have a large white dog called Roland that literally smiles at Baby Girl every time he sees her. He does not do the same for me.
It’s fun and she’s having a blast. The school work involved is right at her skill level and right up her alley. They play a lot of math games, they read Harry Potter and interpret verbs, nouns, and other literary devices. They create. They sew and cook and learn to clean up. They learn about their bodies and use themselves and what’s around them for science lessons. She leaves each day excited and happy and that’s worth everything to me.
On the other hand…. Thursdays…. are HARD. First of all, I am used to having a lot of time at home by myself where I can work in peace that I am no longer getting. Picking her up at 2 pm is great but gives me very limited time to get things done, especially if I need to drive somewhere. And Thursdays I get absolutely nothing done, except a small bit of schoolwork. We try. We really do. We start out pretty good. She feeds the horses and eats breakfast. Then we sit down at the table together. It doesn’t take long for us to butt heads. She wants to do spelling, grammar and writing. I want to do reading, social studies and other things like bible study and executive functioning skills. Someone I was venting to said to me… the teacher decides what is to be done and she does it, right? And I’m like, yeah when she’s at school, but at home I’m still just her mom. We are having trouble changing hats, for sure. I also want to do stuff like laundry and cleaning up (not necessarily with her help but it would be nice) and she wants to chill out on her Ipad and play with the dog.
It’s only been a couple of Thursdays. I am still working out the kinks and trying to see what will work and what will not. I know I need to supplement her instruction with work on Thursdays. She also has a math/science tutor once a week for an hour. I don’t know if it’s enough. I think that taking out all the unnecessary things they did at Public School is a bonus for her. Shorter school days benefit her mind and attitude for sure. I mean, who wants to do an hour and a half of English followed immediately by an hour and a half of math? And then the same for Science in the afternoon, and forty five minutes of social studies. Add in all the Art, PE, STEM, Music and Library they do and that is a LOT for a kid to handle each day. In my opinion. Then recess being the last activity of the day…. what’s the point?
And having Fridays off is amazing. She gets to chill out all day and I won’t have to worry about leaving for horseshows when they start up again in March. We can do all the horseshows we want and not get penalized for school absences. My husband is also off on Fridays so it’s a great day for us. Probably my favorite day of the week! I try so hard to cram everything I need to do into those few hours she’s at the co-op and handling Thursdays that by Friday I’m also ready for the break.
So far so good. We will continue to beat down Thursdays until we get it ironed out and it becomes something we do and not something I dread. Any advice for Thursdays is welcome! Also, she has taken it upon herself to feed the horses every weekday night, which is amazing and helpful. She has a riding schedule that she made herself. Unless it’s freezing cold then I refuse to go out there and supervise (she doesn’t complain either!) ha ha. We are fair weather folk for sure. Today I have the heater on in my office and I’m still cold.
I know we will get there. I know this was the right decision for Baby Girl. She will thrive and grow and learn to regulate herself. I am excited for her, and I am thrilled not to have a knot in my stomach every day. She hasn’t been telling me she doesn’t feel good in the mornings or that her stomach hurts. She’s not procrastinating on getting in the car. She’s making a concerted effort and it shows. God showed us the way and I’m so glad we listened.