Challenge of the Day!

This is how the day was supposed to go:
- Bradley has an hour of fun pre-school time with his Home teacher
- Ms. Sam comes and he plays and then sleeps for hours after a yummy snack
- he gets all his meds for the day
- take the girls to a peaceful breakfast to celebrate Dad getting a paycheck again and the end of their Fall break
- quiet evening at home
- girls help make dinner
- family stuff in the evening
- girls to bed not too late because Madison is still sickly and Sydney gets tired early
- coffee and us time after I finish my daily blog
- off to bed at a reasonable hour because it's been a long week!

And that's why I rarely plan my day, all that work to watch it fritter away in a blaze of glory!  Let's look at how the day really went:

-after two weeks no great memory of his Home teacher.  No great interest in her...lots, and lots of tears and frustration during her hour.
- Bradley feeling yucky most of the day.
- Lots of fun with Ms. Sam, but not inclined to eat or take much of a long nap
- missed one medicine dose
- nice breakfast, girls only argued after the meal, not during
- Bradley's broken cup puts family night at Target and dinner grabbed while out.
- my blog?  Finally getting to it.  ;-)
- Coffee no.  Us time... Sort of while Eric works magic on the suddenly ailing laptop and I'm tapping on my phone.  ;-).
- reasonable bedtime?  Shot to Hell the moment Madison started crying about her friends at school, and the one that told her some find her annoying because she follows them.  Good grief!  Really?!?!
- ninety minutes talking her down, laying out strategies and plans while encouraging her to be her own best friend and let others come to her.  All the while, I find myself holding my breath, wondering what happens when no one comes to her in the next few months to years!  Then what can I say?  The truth is that I didn't have a best friend in Middle School till the 9th grade.  Even then that was a rocky road, but worth it.  My closest friends came from that time, from College, from my adulthood.  Middle School just sucked!  No way around it and no way to avoid it: we just have to plow through.

Turns out things rarely go as planned in our house.  And for the most part, that's okay.  It was better to have this discussion with Madison on Friday night. Not Sunday.  Bradley feeling yucky?  Yeah we're pretty used to that and just work towards getting him healthy again.   As for Middle School, about the time we pull Madison from its claws it'll be gunning for Sydney, we just have to help them survive it all.  Oh joy!  How exciting!  Where is that sarcasm font!?

Madison went to bed feeling better.  I feel horrible inside.   I want my kids happy, well rounded and to hear her pain is almost too much to bear!  All I can say that's good is that she's still comfortable coming to mom and dad to unburden herself and let us try to help.  She stops that, she stops talking to us and we know we're in trouble.   So I guess we can say we met the challenge today, let's hope it helps her win the battles at school and in her life. 

So it wasn't the day I had planned, but that's okay!

Welcome to the last Friday of the "31 for 21: Challenge!"  Have a great night everyone!!