This Way or That Way

The necklace that saved the day.

Remember the note I found in Roundabout's backpack on Wednesday? Well, I should continue the story.

So, where to start? I talked with my Roundabout and discovered that she really misses home during the day and she begged to be able to stay home from now on. Well....that isn't really an option at this point.

Thursday morning came along and we did our normal school routine. The first PTA meeting was on Thurdsay morning and I had thought I would be interested in attending. So luckily, a friend was able to watch Green Light for me while I took Roundabout to school. She was happily skipping down the hall until we were a few steps away from her classroom door. All of the sudden, she got very nervous and asked me to just take her back home. When my answer was "no", she snapped. Lost it. Completely. In fact, I've never seen one of my children act the she did.

Threw herself down on the floor.
Kicked legs in the air.
Cried as loud as one can imagine.
Begged me to take her home.
Pleaded with me to not leave her there.
Banged the wall with her feet.
Threw her backpack across the room.
Ordered me to hang her backpack up for her.
Screamed profusely.
I was stunned.

We made our way over to her table and chair and she calmed down. She had snapped back to normal. Sweetly, she asked me to stay for one more minute while she calmed down. I did. I rubbed her back, kissed and hugged her, and then the bell rang and I had to say goodbye. "One more kiss please", she quietly asked. A kiss and we were off. My heart was pounding.

As I walked out the door of her trailer, the door flung open with Roundabout bolting out behind me.
Screaming.
Begging me not to leave.
Promising that she would never act like this again if I would take her home! Ha!
Clinging to my legs so that I couldn't walk.

Her teacher literally pulled her off of me and explained to her that I couldn't leave until she gave me a smile and said "I love you". After some slight coaxing, she did. And I was off. My heart was racing. I could not believe what had just happened. I went to the PTA meeting, but my mind was so distracted that I ended up leaving before it was over.

The day was so long. I couldn't wait for her to get home so that we could immediately sit down and discuss her horrid behavior. I wondered how the rest of her day had gone. Her poor teacher. Poor her. It was her last ditch effort to get my attention and tell me that she feels unsure of this new Kindergarten situation.

The bus arrived home with her and she bounded off of the bus with a huge smile on her face and begging for a friend to come over. "Oh no! Not today. Not after the spectacle you put on this morning." We came right inside and I sat her down in my bedroom to talk about her day and let her know in no uncertain terms that if I ever experienced that behavior again, there would be a loss of privileges. "What kind of privileges?", she asked. So, I let her in on deciding the consequences of her own behavior. 1: Early bedtime. 2: No dolls or Barbies in bed. 3. No music in my room for the night. In all actuality, those are pretty stiff consequences for her. I threw in another though: "I will not walk you to your classroom anymore if that happens again." But while we're at it, let's take one day at a time. "What reward should you receive if you act properly tomorrow at school?" Her answer: "To watch Cinderella III with Dad after school with popcorn too!" Sounds good.

Friday morning comes along all too soon. I was nervous. And so was she. Friends had offered up advice for calming this storm, but none sounded promising for Roundabout's personality. The idea came to me on Friday morning though that I should give her something of mine to take care of while she is at school. What would not be a distraction, but maybe a comfort? I don't know! How about a necklace? "Will you wear this sparkly, beaded necklace to school today. It's mine and I really need you to take care of it for me." She said, "Yeah, I guess so" very unenthusiatically.

We made it to school, walked in and she was bouncing happily towards her classroom. All was well. Until we got closer again. The tears started rolling down her cheeks and it was all she could do to not break down crying out loud. She unpacked her backpack, sat down in her chair, and said, "Mommy, I want to go home. The tears just won't stop." She was quiet and calm though. It tore me up inside to see her so sad. It was such a different feeling from the day prior. I reminded her of my necklace, told her that I loved her and that she'd be home before she knew it, and kissed her goodbye.

I drove home and bawled my eyes out for about an hour. But in the end, she came home happily and all was well. When I asked her if she felt sad anytime during the day she said, "Yeah, I had to look at your necklace about seven times, but then I felt better." It saved the day. She earned her movie night with dad...and popcorn too.

This coming week, our carpool buddy is driving. Hopefully, it'll break her this week of feeling so sad since she won't actually have to say goodbye to me at school.

Let's hope anyway!