Back-to-Park Week

This short week was jam-packed with meetings in parks to launch the school year - homeschooling park day, the county homeschool back-to-school picnic, scouting... after all the stress of meeting new people in new situations, it was a definite dud as far as schoolwork was concerned. Rose couldn't focus on anything. Fortunately, we had a very productive school week last week and could afford to take it easy. She got a lot of exercise and social practice in! It's one of those times when I'm again very, very glad that we chose to learn at home so that we have that flexibility.

And, Rose pulled on her 'safety net' tags for each excursion by herself - without my actually even remembering about them. So I do feel that it was ultimately a good choice to have them made. I suspect that just wearing them as a backup plan has given Rose some confidence - sort of like Dumbo's magic crow feather, a sort of talisman as well as a safety net. About a week ago, Rose got "lost" in the library - I was actually only a few aisles away, but she was focused on finding books and didn't notice where I was. I came out of the aisles to see her standing by the librarian's desk and talking to the librarian. She had remembered to do exactly the right thing, and while she was anxious, she wasn't in a desperate panic. "A little anxiety, Mom," the librarian said, and she gave me a look to tell me that she'd noticed that it was a little unusual. I nodded, yep, and praised Rose for remaining calm and remembering where to go for help. It's a big step forward!