# Chateau de la Tobler

## Thursday, May 28, 2009

### Wednesday

Sorry, I just fell into bed last night. I didn't have a chance to write.
Yesterday was a very busy day. The last week of school is always busy! I dropped the kids off at school, Jeff hadn't the chance to fix Benjamin's bike yet. My first appointment of the day was at 8:30 at Heather and Benjamin's school. The entire fourth grade split up into little groups and each picked a different book to make into a play and they all performed them yesterday from 8:30 to 10:00. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to go. The look on Heather's face when she looked out into the audience and saw me standing there was worth it, but it was difficult to get there. All of the seats were taken by the fourth graders and the parents and younger siblings all had to stand along the walls in the back and off to the side. I had Erica and Lillian with me and they were not interested in watching a bunch of kids on stage who they couldn't hear as they stood there and read their lines off of pieces of paper. We slipped out as soon as Heather's play was over. She did a great job.
Then we stopped at the front office to talk with the staff for a moment. Benjamin has been lobbying for home schooling next year. After much prying, I finally got him to admit that he has been the target of some bullying. I wanted to talk it over with the principal before we made any decisions. They said the councilor would give me a call later in the day.
Jacob's award assembly was at 2:30 so we were once again back at the school for that. Lillian and Erica were antsy by now and didn't sit well at all. After that, school was out so we picked up all the kids and headed home. One of Benjamin's friends asked for a ride. His family moved a few weeks ago and now he is zoned for Skyline Ranch and he had to walk two miles in the sun since he is still going to Johnson Ranch until, well, today. We took him home.
The school councilor finally called me back at 5:30 or so. She was actually excited to call so she could tell me that Benjamin had taken a few tests with the rest of the sixth graders. About ten of them scored high enough to test into a few eighth grade classes for next year. Benjamin 'gets' to take algebra and eighth grade reading next year. They don't want him to leave the school. Apparently, letting the seventh graders do this is something they worked hard for and next year is the pilot program so they can prove to the district that this is a good idea. They really want Benjamin to stick around. I've been trying to get some names out of him so the school can address things more directly. Jeff and I have asked Benjamin to at least try going to school next year. If things get bad, I promised him that I would pull him out and we would explore other options, including transferring him to another school close by and home schooling. We are also getting the names of the other students in this new program so he can try to cultivate a few friends over the summer.
Then one of my friends called. Her five year old had just choked on a piece of chicken and she was now having trouble breathing and the Urgent care was worried that she could have aspirated the chicken into her lung and that was above their abilities to treat so they were recommending she go into town to the emergency room to get it checked out. They reason for the call was that she wanted to know if I would take her two older girls until they could get back. Of course I said yes! She called me at 8:30 to let me know that they were headed home. Maddie (the five year old) had not aspirated the chicken. Instead the x-ray had revealed a 7mm mass on one of her lungs. They don't know what it is, but it's not a emergency room situation. Instead, they have a series of appointments with a bunch of doctors. She will likely have a MRI and a lung biopsy in the next few weeks. I've told her mother that I would be happy to take the older girls when she needs me to over the summer.
Anyway, that was my Wednesday! With any luck, Thursday will be easier!

<< Home