I love the passing of time

It drives me crazy, sometimes, choosing just one for http://envisage365.blogspot.com/

So, some days, I upload the extra unchosen ones to fotki Especially the ones that can’t be recreated on another day…

Another school mom was here picking up cub scout popcorn today. She asked me if Shelby was OK. I said, sure, why? She said that she had seen him in the hallway at school, today, on his way to the nurse’s office.

The nurse hadn’t called me today. She & I had talked and, since he seems to be going down there for quiet time, more than anything, she said she’d just treat him as her own, give him a minute then send him back to class, unless she saw any obvious illness. So, I’m sure that’s just what happened.

The thing is, though, when I asked him about it later (that was long after this picture was taken), he said he went down to the office because he was feeling sad.

He says he feels sad often. And, sadness is part of life, I know. But, I wonder if he feels sad more than other kids. And I worry that, when he’s sad, he doesn’t seem to have the ability to bounce back as easily as he should. Should we be doing more about it? Counselor? Medication?

When I asked him what he was sad about, he couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me.

When I was a kid, I was teased in school. I would complain, often, of ‘headaches’ to get out of going to school, to go to the nurse & be sent home or just get out of a class. I really didn’t do it on purpose. My parents took me in to get my eyes checked, to see if that was causing the ‘headaches’, but it wasn’t (I didn’t get or need glasses until I was an adult and, even now, I can do without them for the most part).

I don’t even know, now, if I was actually feeling ‘headaches’, pain or physical discomfort at all or if that was just my catchall word, something that I, subconsciously knew couldn’t be proven or disproven with a thermometer or medical test. So, it became a habit, saying I had a ‘headache’ or ’stomachache’.

And, I see him going there, too. I survived it & came out strong enough on the other side, eventually. Will he? Should we just let it go? Or, if we did something (what?) now, could he avoid it, become confident & secure now? Or, would counseling or medication just make things worse?

Too hard to decide. Easier to just wait a bit & see…

Puppy trying to go through baby gate that keeps her in the kitchen. Thwarted by her warm, cuddly, adorable, plump puppy tummy

Reading to the puppies on the kitchen floor

Al got a call from North Central College last night. She has been accepted. And, is being offered a Presidential Scholarship, which starts at $12,000/yr & is renewable every year as long as she keeps her GPA up. That’s about half of her tuition covered. But, additionally, Presidential Scholarship winners are invited to the school for an interview weekend (including overnight stay, tix to basketball game, fancy luncheon, etc). At the interview, their scholarship may be extended for any amount up to full tuition.

:-)

Jim’s encouraging her to apply at Northwestern, anyway, even though North Central is her first choice. Can’t hurt to see what they’ll offer her, too.

Al is overwhelmed. I am too. This makes it real. It’s not just talking about what you might do when you’re out of high school - this is making actual, real plans.

I really think that NCC is the best choice for her, too. It’s close enough to still feel like she’s home, but she’ll get to live on campus, work at the college radio station, just build up slowly to ‘real life’.

Just overheard co-workers trying to remember the name of a musical stage show that another one of them went to recently. One of them said, “Was it Catcher in the Rye?”

That would make an interesting musical. Someone should try to adapt it. I’d go!