1 Mother 2 Another

I teach on Monday evenings, and have cut
back my classes so that I may still pick Maddie up from school and
have some time with her to decompress for a while before I head off
to work. This arrangement seemed to be going well, until yesterday
afternoon.


Maddie had come home grumpy and irritable, a sure sign that she was
tired. I tried to be loving and patient, but time came when I
needed to leave. I announced my departure early, giving myself time
to deal with her, and boy was I glad I did.

Maddie sobbed and sobbed, throwing herself
in my arms and saying, “No! Don’t leave me! Take me
with you! I promise I’ll be really really quiet and I
won’t bother you at all! You can’t go anywhere without
me!” She jumped up and ran to the door, crying, “Give
me a minute to get my shoes on!” She thrust her feet in her
clogs, threw open the door and ran to the car, opening the back
door and climbing in.


My poor girl spent twenty minutes sobbing her eyes out. I held her,
and rocked her, and loved on her as best I could, and eventually
she got to the point where she allowed me to walk her back into the
house – though she was still crying the whole time. As I
drove away, I saw her red swollen face in the front window, hand
and Silky pressed against it.


Maddie is still exhausted from school, and I don’t know what
to do. She now goes to bed at 6:30, which means she gets pretty
much no time with Brian in the evenings, and I’m still waking
her up in the morning – and it takes a while. I know
there’s an adjustment period for school, but I’m hoping
it’ll be over darn soon.