The Things We Do For Love

We are now three days into the new school year, and I am exhausted. OK, it's my own fault, but it's because of my drive to get "one more thing" done in the day.

Our kids are starting this year at a new school, a Christian school associated with our church. We waited a couple of years before enrolling them, hoping we would be past the worst of the behaviors first. With all the progress we made last year, we have been optimistic that this will be a good year.

DS was very nervous about switching schools, but once we got him regulated, he became more optimistic, and is cautiously starting to adjust to his new class. He's making friends, and I think he will especially enjoy the sports program. He has already started practicing with the soccer team.

DD was very excited about her new class and teacher. We had an excellent meeting with her homeroom teacher before school started, and tried to cover what we could about what to expect and effective strategies to help her over the humps. Well, we waited for phone calls the first few days, and none came. We did get a couple of e-mails though. The teacher reported that DD was "slow with transitions," and had been resistant when she had tried to get DD to turn around in class with a touch on the shoulder. To her, these seemed like rough spots. To us, we were thrilled because these same interactions a couple of years ago would have resulted in a complete meltdown. Progress is always in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

Today didn't go so well. DD is convinced she cannot do well in Science, and so she tried to get out of class by using the "I need to go to the bathroom" ploy, then she became furious when the teacher told her, "No." Shouted that she hated science, and hated the teacher, etc. Sigh. She tried the same thing during English time. I've seen this trick before, and we have once again had the "get in, do your thing, get out," and the "go when you have the chance, instead of waiting," talks. Hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement. One day at a time, after all. I still think that this will be a better alternative for her than the public Jr. High, where she would be a target for any user who came along.

So, things have been interesting, as we get started on the new year. Our school has two locations in two different school districts (we live in a third, adjacent district), and our bussing arrangements mean being picked up from morning care by District A and dropped off near home in the PM by District B. Only, both districts messed up the schedule, and they had no bus for Dist. A the first day (and so were picked up by the school secretary), and still aren't on the list for Dist. B. The school year schedule includes "closed" dates for both districts, so we have some days where A won't have buses, some where B won't have buses, and some release days where we will use our old day care in our district C. It will be interesting to juggle all this. I was up till 1AM putting dates in my PDA calendar for school, sports, busses, and Pioneers (like scouts, only less intense)

Oh, and after several rounds of telling us she wasn't interested, DD decided today to join the Volleyball team, and went to practice this afternoon without letting us know first. Fortunately, she was easy to find, but that could have been a scare. We have told her that membership in the team will be contingent on staying caught up in class. More dates to add to the calendar! I think it will be a good way for her to get to know more of the girls, though.

Oh, and remember our former foster kids? We had told the oldest two (16 & 17) to let us know if they didn't have school supplies, and we would do what we can. Yesterday evening they let us know that they didn't have anything, so I pulled up school lists, labeled paper bags for the 4 school-agers (no lists for the high-schoolers), and started sorting out supplies. Amazingly enough, I had most of the stuff in my "stash" I had bought for extras and donation. DH was laughing and shaking his head at me as I pulled stuff out of bags and drawers. His comment - "you never do anything halfway, do you?" Well, no, I guess not. I stopped by Target and filled in the blanks as best I could (there's a good reason I get our stuff early - not much was left! I couldn't believe the number of people who were just starting the second day of school), then delivered the stuff. I felt like Santa! I'm so blessed that the Lord gave me this opportunity to do something for them. I even gave the 14-yr-old a brief hug, and he seemed thrilled with the supplies. No sign of their dad, but probably better, since he doesn't know we were their foster parents, and we want our home to remain a safe place should the need arise in the future.

Well, tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully DD will learn from her mistakes today and not have any problems tomorrow. Hah! And maybe I'll win the lottery, too!