Teaching Moment

Hailey has been getting knots in her stomach about school. It was so bad that she stayed home from school on Friday. I even brought her to school that morning to try to talk her out of her butterflies. But after talking to her teacher, we thought it would be best to let her calm down and feel better. I had her take a good nap, and she wasn't allowed to have any treats or go anywhere special. I had to let her know that staying home wasn't any fun. As much as it hurt to see her hurting, I knew I had to be firm with her "feeling sick" when I knew it was just knots.

I spoke with her a lot about why she was feeling sick, and she came up with she is scared because she's afraid of what happened last year. We talked a lot about that, and how she could start feeling better... I thought we were done with the situation, until last night. She started crying and telling me she didn't want to go to school. I started by telling her that it was all in her head and she needed to control her emotions. I told her not to let her chin fall and get sad, but to do as "Annie" does and "stick up her chin and grin"... I told her about the quote "we do hard things" I told her she can do it, and to tell herself that over and over... Eventually she said she felt better, and drifted off to sleep after Cody scratched her back and drew on her face with his finger (I don't know how else to explain that). 

This morning she started up again. I gave her a bracelet before school started, and reminded her that if she needs a pick me upper, to look at the bracelet and know I'm thinking about her and I love her. I then showed her that I was still wearing the ankle bracelet she made me, and told her I'd be thinking of her as well. She kept telling me her stomach hurt, and I let her know that it was her mind that was doing that, not her body, that she was not sick.  I asked her to name what she loves about school, and she had quite a list... Telling me that brought some smiles to her face... At breakfast I took my moms advice and while I prayed out loud, I let her hear me ask for her to feel better, make good friends, and enjoy school. She was still nervous as we were getting backpacks on, and I reminded her that she is a Johnson. Johnson's are brave, Johnson's do hard things, Johnson's smile. I told herto pray, to keep her chin up, to focus on other children who are in need of a friend. Still a little nervous, but not crying, I walked her to the playground after dropping Xander off. She gave me a smile and a kiss, I told her I believe in her, I know she can do it, and she waved goodbye. I then stopped by her teachers class, and let her know she's still nervous, and Mrs. Goeke said she'd do her best to help her, and keep me informed.

I keep praying for my little girl... I had to keep my tears back while she was so sad. Trying to teach Hailey to be brave and get rid of knots in her stomach was not something that I thought I'd have to do, she was so adaptable in kindergarten... Unfortunately, she had a horrible 1st grade year. I pray that she will remember how much she loved school, and will love school like that again. She loved it so much she was sad when we took her out one time to go to Disneyworld.

I know she can do it. She can do hard things. She just needs to believe that.

Being a mom is hard. My heart aches when my kids ache. Sometimes teaching moments are fun, others are hard. This teaching moment was hard, and I'm hoping Hailey will gain more confidence.