sunny Monday

Ah bliss - I'm enjoying the sunshine! In fact, I got up at 6.30am and enjoyed it even then! The church weekend has finally got me to do what God's been nagging at me for months to do - get up early and have a bit of quiet time. It was very good :-) Having to do the AA thing and just take it one day at a time and not make great promises to do it forever!

Despite the early start, I seemed to get stuck in a wormhole or something, where it was suddenly 9.30am and still none of us were dressed and nothing was done! Eventually chivvied one girl to get dressed and the other just remained in her birthday suit all morning until we had to go out! I sat down with Jade and did a couple of pages of Miquon, then a bit of bible reading and Leading Little Ones to God. That was the extent of the formal work for the day! I had to make inroads into the washing mountain ready for going on holiday on Saturday. I had about 3 long phone calls - a couple of them I made as mystery shopping phone calls for which I will get paid. Frequent requests for food and assistance in reaching things or getting things set up for the girls didn't help either. We had some lunch and then suddenly another hour had passed and it was time to go swimming. Had a relaxed, fun play in the pool, and then returned to hand Shannon over to a friend who had offered to have her while Jade went to her first Rainbows group. Couldn't find friend in the park where we had arranged to meet her. No answer at her house either. Tried the other small local park but no luck. Ended up taking Shannon to Rainbows with us! She joined in more than Jade did! Jade didn't want to participate much in anything, and of course I had to stay and she clung to my hand or sat on my knee most of the time, and looked like she wasn't really enjoying it. When we got home I asked her what she thought of it, and she said she loved it!!! So that's good, but I have no idea how we will ever get her integrated enough for me to be able to leave her. And some special allowances are going to have to be made for her as she won't be able to say her name at the beginning (everybody holds the Rainbows teddy in turn and says who they are) and she's been given her Promise to learn but there's no way she's ever going to say that in public!! I had printed out a couple of information sheets on selective mutism to give to the group leader so at least she'll be slightly informed when we have to discuss it. But we're on holiday next week and then it's half-term week, so it'll be 3 weeks before she goes again.

And now I must go to bed if I'm going to be up early again tomorrow morning!