Lost Count

I've lost count of how many bales of pine straw mulch we've put out. Today I almost finished. It was a ton of weeding the front and side yard and spreading the mulch. Ugh, weeding is not my favorite, especially grass that has crept in. I got to feeling really ticky after seeing one crawling on my glove, I had to take a 5 minute break to give lizards and I think a snake time to leave the scene, and I know I stepped through poison ivy so I decided to call it a day and shower. There is just a very small bed in front of the sidewalk left to do. That's pretty tame; I don't think I will even break a sweat to finish. Last week, I got a little help. Mariah texted me during school and begged me to come get her because her standardized testing was over, reviews for the next test were over and the rest of the day was lame fillers reheated from the previous day. I was just about to go outside and do the other half of the 3 terraces in the backyard so I figured why not make her day, and get myself a little slave labor too?! We made great progress, took an hour for lunch, and finished up. She enjoyed it and was happy to get out of school. I think we all need those mental health days. Especially after she read on facebook about her older sister's skip day. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry.

She also had a recent incident with a teacher that left her shaken up. It was a small part of why I took her out, but she is not the first child I have excused from school after mid-terms, finals, or TCAP testing is done for the day. I am lenient that way. The time they have at home really is fleeting and then they are grown up and off to college. Busy work in school drives me nuts; so if they will spend some of their free time at home on the next day's work, I am all about skipping and enjoying the day with them.

The problem at school was a typical boy behind girl making alot of noise and pulling on ponytail. BOYS! Mariah and her friend exchanged a look of extreme annoyance that was mistaken as the source of the interruption the lesson. The teacher went off on them - two girls who have never caused a problem and are amongst the best students in the class It probably didn't help that Mariah wasn't willing to just let her friend take the demerit and tried to explain they weren't making noise. All of a sudden, they had a very angry man, hands on their desk, inches from their faces yelling at them. I think it was the literally in your face, 2 inches from your nose, screaming that bothered her the most, although her sense of justice was certainly offended. After class, another girl ventured to the teacher and told him what had happened and he took back the demerit but the girls were still feeling quite traumatized and he failed to apologize at that time which I think might have helped defuse the situation somewhat.

I was actually very sick when this all went down so the ferocious Mama Bear that emerges when my cubs are threatened barely grumbled. Which was probably a good thing. After sleeping on it, something I probably wouldn't have done if I could have gotten out of bed sooner, I sent a brief email (another nod to the virus) the next day indicating that Mike and I would be more than happy to discuss in person if needed (but I really hoped I didn't have to because I wasn't sure I could). The other girls parents called which helped get attention on the matter immediately. I feel it was dealt with promptly and fairly, although Mariah is not a big fan of her principal. However, her principal sent me an email afterwards full of praise for Mariah's maturity and ability to communicate articulately. I laughed when I read that - not the maturity part but the articulate part. I bet Mariah really told her EXACTLY how she felt!!! I was told the girls were questioned separately. The teacher was spoken to. The girls were called back in one at a time after the teacher spoke to the Principal. Later that afternoon, they received an apology from the teacher with the principal present. And then he called each set of parents. When the teacher called I treated it like I do when my kids have already been punished at school. He opened the call with an apology, I accepted it, and said we all have days where we wish we could take back stuff we did or said, but as long as Mariah's personal space is respected in the future and all communication is conducted in a reasonable tone of voice from now on, I was all about finishing the year on a positive note. I decided after reading the principals email to get Mariah as a car rider that day rather than having her on the bus. She appreciated being able to walk out of school and collapse in the car and heaved a giant sigh. Hard day.

Which brings me to today, I've been bothered all weekend because Mariah is anxious about the feeling of "what if" - both she and the other girl, as well as classmates, felt that the situation was close to physical abuse. It's really shaken her up. We talked Friday about not going into the what ifs and making it a bigger emotional burden than it already is. By worrying about what might have happened you are placing blame on someone for something that didn't actually happen, so you don't really know IF that would have been the case at all. I have been mulling it over and this morning I told her I felt she would feel much better if she would forgive her teacher. To pray that her anxiety would be lifted and her burden removed.

I've lost count, not only of how many bales of mulch (although I'd venture to say it's near 60) that I've handled, but also of how many cares and concerns I've been praying about. Big Sigh. Although I'd venture to say 100% of the time prayer has helped.