The Little Victories

Last Wednesday was school picture day at the Lady's school. She agreed to wear a lovely little brown dress, but battled and I mean battled her father and I about putting on a sweater even though it was in the low sixties that morning.

When we finally got into the car (sweater on) we got stuck in traffic on the road to school. The ride that takes roughly 6 minutes was doubled. Needless to say we were late to school. The Lady then took this opportunity to have her first drop-off meltdown since the school year began. Some days she tells me she wants me to wait a minute and watch her, but this morning she clung to my leg and started crying. I am not sure what the protocol is in this situation, do you just run out and let the teacher's handle it? Try to calm them and coax them into the room?

So, I have the Lady crying in the doorway, the Little Lady making a beeline towards the sensory table in the classroom that is filled with unpopped popcorn and I am trying to figure out who to grab first and what is the quickest way to get out of the building.

The Lady's teacher came over and told me that I could just leave her and that it would be okay. She asked the Lady if she was nervous about the school photos, which prompted the woman who works in the office in the next room to come out and ask the teacher if she wants to switch the classes photo time so that the Lady isn't waiting around and nervous about it. I was thinking that the reason she was upset was that she was tired, having woken up in the middle of the night to pee and then ending up sleeping on the couch in the living room when she refused to go back into her bed. However, I did appreciate the effort.

So, I grabbed the Little Lady, passed a very upset Lady off to her teacher, hung out in the vestibule on the top of the stairs until I heard her little sobs subside and then took the Little Lady for a bagel, because Lord knows I needed the carbs.

I did get a phone call from the school about a half-hour later letting me know that the Lady had calmed down fairly quickly and was having a good day. I do have to say I was grateful for that.

But what I am even more grateful for was this morning when I dropped off the Lady and her teacher handed me the photos from school picture day and there she was, looking happy and adorable, and most importantly looking at the camera and smiling.

 I took this little victory with me and tried to keep it close to me when the Lady threw a fit in the car after I picked her up this afternoon. The moments may be fleeting but sometimes they are all I have to keep me sane!

Oh, want to know the best part about the photos? They give you a package with a few 4x6's a 5x7 or two and some wallets and then they let you know that if you want to keep the entire package you recieved (and who wouldn't) you have to pay $28. If you want to pay less you have to hand back some of the prints. Really? Who is going to hand back one 4x6 and a wallet so that they can pay just $26? It is a racket I tell you. A racket. But the Lady looks super cute so I think she is totally worth it!