We made it through the day...the first day of a new beginning to our lives. I was very nervous last night. I had no idea what today would hold--would Sarah get angry, would she be sad, would she be happy, would she balk against the whole new schedule idea, or, worst of all, would she get mad and threaten suicide again or ask to go back to the hospital? I prayed a lot last night. I even went to her room and prayed over her, for peace and healing for her. Maybe I should have done that a long time ago. I wonder if it would have made a difference.
Regardless, I set my alarm for 7:30am and was able to pull myself out of bed at 7:45, so I could start waking the girls up. Get-out-of-bed time was scheduled for 8:00. I think both girls were up by 8:10 or 8:15...not too bad. They both got showered, made their beds, brushed hair and teeth, and ate breakfast. They were supposed to be ready to start school at 9...we didn't quite make it. OK, so it was about 10:30 by the time we really got down to business (Sarah was in the bathroom for a really long time). But, we did well--no screens for the girls! Finally, I was able to get them both sitting in the den, ready to work. Got both girls to do a journal entry of some kind about Sarah being home from the hospital. I didn't get to read Allison's, but Sarah's was short and sweet--"I am so happy to be home again. I am sad, too, though, because I didn't get any of my friends' numbers."
They then worked on history. Sarah finished her notecards (she had started them in the hospital) and Allison did all of hers. They then had to categorize the books of the Old Testament. I was so proud of Sarah for completing it without complaining--it was a lot of writing for her to do! We then decided to take a break for lunch. Sarah went to put her school stuff away and some of the stuff fell out of her box--she got frustrated about it, but was able to calm down quickly. I reminded her to breathe, hoping to prevent a full-blown tantrum, which would have happened last week. Fortunately, we got through that with very little issue. Sarah then got her lunch and took it in the playroom to eat, while Allison ate in the den. I gave both girls 30 minutes to watch tv. While they were eating, Allison messed up the settings on the tv in the den and couldn't figure out how to fix it. I had no idea how to do it, so I had to ask Sarah to help Allison. She got a bit irritated trying to explain to Allison how to fix it (she had to stop eating lunch and watching her tv show to help Allison), but I reminded her to breathe again, and we got over it very quickly. Allison apologized to Sarah and Sarah said it was ok. Phew!
After about 35 minutes, I realized the tv's were still on. I reminded Sarah (and Allison) that she was out of time and asked her how much longer her show was on. She told me it was almost over and proceeded to finish watching it. I told her nicely that she needed to ask permission to be able to finish the show and told her exactly what to ask--she did it, so I let her finish the show (it was only on for 5 or 10 more minutes). Once it was over, Sarah got her science book and her math and went upstairs to work on them in my room. I felt that since she had worked so well during the morning, I would give her a chance to do her work upstairs. I went and checked on her a couple of times and she was working very well. She came downstairs a while later and when asked, told me she had done a page of math and the Fascinating Facts for her science. She did both of these without being asked to!
Meanwhile, the Holsteins had called and invited Allison to go sledding, and opened the invitation to Sarah, too, when they found out she is back home. I asked her if she'd like to join them, but she preferred to stay home and finish the schoolwork she was doing. This wasn't really a surprise--it was COLD outside, and I didn't think Sarah would want to go. Not a problem. Once she was done with her schoolwork, she hung out in her room for a bit and watched Tow Mater clips. Then, she came downstairs and watched tv. Since our Homeschool Social meeting and dance class had been cancelled, I thought that was ok. I got her to fold 2 loads of her laundry while she was watching, too, so it wasn't totally wasted time.
We ran into a little problem tonight, but it was with Allison, rather than Sarah. Sarah didn't want to watch the movie Allison had picked out to watch, so I bargained with Sarah and offered to buy her lunch at Penn Station if she would watch at least half of Allison's movie (hoping to make Allison happy). We were planning on having spaghetti for dinner, which Allison was excited about; Sarah wanted pizza. I had to wait until Alan got home to go to the store--I knew the girls didn't want to go out in the cold to Kroger! They told me I could leave them and Sarah said she'd be ok, but I don't feel like that is a safe option yet. She will have to earn that trust back. Alan decided it would work better for him to pick up pizza, so Family Night wouldn't get pushed back so late. Allison thought it was b/c we were trying to cater to Sarah. She got upset b/c she felt like Sarah was getting her way all day since she had been in the hospital, and she didn't think Sarah should get her way, since she was in the hospital for threatening to kill herself. I explained to Allison that we weren't trying to cater to Sarah--I would have had to bargain with her, anyways, to get her to watch the movie, and we didn't get pizza b/c Sarah wanted it--that was just easier and faster than me cooking. Allison got over it, though, and we all ate pizza and watched the whole movie ("Pitch Perfect"). The movie ended a little after 10 and Sarah went to bed as soon as it was done. I forgot to have her brush her hair and teeth before bed, but I figure if that's the worst part of the day, I didn't do too badly. Allison ended up apologizing to me for getting upset; I explained to her that Sarah is still fragile and I want to try to be gentle and delicate with her, so she doesn't get upset again. I wonder how long I'll feel like I have to be careful. Allison was in bed by 11:15--we did really well! I don't know the last time she went to bed that early!
All in all, it was a good day. Hoping tomorrow is even better (or at least just as good as today!).
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