Reposted - Sep 12, 2014 - THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY – OR A TYPICAL WEEK IN A TK HOUSE

There were some remarkable blessings this week, for which I am incredibly grateful. There were also numerous challenges, for which I am markedly less grateful. I recognize they are part of the journey but am really in the mood for the bypass right now. (I will apologize in advance for being distracted/weird typos. We are fostering a puppy for a few weeks so I am continually stopping to either remove his nose from my  keyboard or take back the socks he keeps stealing. I don't know what I was thinking, either!)

My dear TK tried out for chorus. Since it was Tuesday from 3:45-5, and gymnastics is 6:30-8:30, I knew in my gut it was a bad plan. But I also knew TK is not the most melodic of singers, so figured odds were in my favor.  But of course she made the cut.  Monday night after gymnastics she had a massive meltdown, so I knew Tuesday would be a disaster. We talked about lots of reasons why it would be overwhelming. TK said she'd think about it. I took matters into my own hands and emailed the music teacher to withdraw.  Tuesday AM at school my sweet girl told her teacher she needed to go talk to the music teacher and tell her chorus was too much for her.  I was so proud that she reached that conclusion and she was going to tell her music teacher face to face.  As we approached the music room, I did my best keystone kop impression (google it, youngsters) and luckily the music teacher got the message to not let on that she already knew TK was out.  Tuesday afternoon we were leaving school and we walked past the music room. Chorus had not yet started and the kids were talking and laughing. TK turns to me and yells, "Thanks for making me quit, Mom.  Thanks for ruining my life!"   Her snit continued til bedtime.

Wednesday I met with her teachers to talk about homework and TKs in general. Thus the remarkable blessing, for these two God-sent people asked lots of questions to try to really learn about TK, came up with new ideas, and genuinely invested their hearts into this process.  At the end we were looking for new ideas to make tests easier, so I suggested we bring in TK and ask her. So they did, and it was amazing. Sometimes I forget to do that, and that was a great reminder that my kid is getting really good at knowing what she needs and expressing it. I am so proud of her progress in that area.  It was a great meeting, and at bedtime she told me how good it felt to know her teachers really listened to her and wanted to help.

Fast forward to Friday.  All seems good and we head to gymnastics after school. Ten minutes in she runs over to me in tears and says, "I just can't do this. I need to go home."  I will honestly say I was ticked off. I  had a monster headache and was looking forward to 2 hours of peace and maybe she'd stay for Parents Night Out and I'd get another 2 hours.  But nope, I got to jump right back into the car with a sobbing overwhelmed kid and head home, where I got to figure out dinner, entertainment, and how I was going to keep smiling. Evidently I wasn't very successful at that last part because TK kept asking my why I was so grumpy. 

I admit I was not in a place of compassion much of this week, and I wasn't able to always respond the way I should, but I did manage to avoid responding the way I shouldn't, so I'm taking the win on that one. Thank you grace, for letting me have that win.

Hopefully in your week you had some remarkable blessings too. If they didn't impart some grace to you, impart some to yourself. We all need it - some weeks more than others.