I had a very stressful day yesterday. Because of my son's emotional issues, the school signed him up for a 10 week program that helps kids with various problems...whether it's that they are shy, or they are bullied at school, or they have anger problems, etc. So yesterday was his first day and the cool thing is that it's held at the soccer stadium, so they get to interview professional soccer players, and such. But, it's a 15 -20 minute bike ride, and school gets out at 2:15 and we had to be there at 2:45 yesterday for this first one. I checked the tires on my son's bike, pumped them up, and we were headed to school and I realized my daughter's bike tires were really soft and she couldn't ride that far on them, but I couldn't get them to take air because there was a different....connector? I have no idea what that little tube thing is called. So I had to find another option for DD. I knew her one friend has dance on Wednesdays, so that wasn't an option, but the other friend maybe. But for the first time I can ever remember, her mom wasn't on the grounds to ask. So I asked another mom, but they had come by bike, so she had no way to transport DD to her house. I thought I was going to have to leave her for 2 hours by herself, which...she's 10, so I COULD, but I would rather not. The school grounds keeper has a bike pump, but he wasn't there on Wednesdays. So the principal came out and took a look, got one tire pumped up, but didn't have the right attachment for the other. I went home, found 3 different pumps, brought them all back and one of them worked, so I got her bike in order. I was so relieved. Until I got to the school to pick the kids up and there was a police car parked and an ambulance pulling up. I get around to the side where we pick up the upper grades and there's a courtyard full of crying children being comforted by parents and teachers. One of the fathers had been attacked 15 minutes earlier right next to the courtyard, and half the school had seen it. So now all the kids were afraid to walk home, lest they or their parents be attacked, too. (It turned out it was a bunch of the guys family members who attacked him...most likely an honor attack of some sort?) My kids were fortunately pretty much spared, DS being lost in his own world didn't even notice there was anything amiss and DD was too far back behind all the other kids to see anything through the windows. BUT, it was her classmate's father, and this girl is a friend of hers. Not a close friend, but a friend. And DD said that the little sister had been with the father and seen the whole thing and was found huddled in a corner crying, so her classmate ran outside and scooped up the little sister and brought her inside. When all the commotion was over and the kids returned to their classrooms, they found the girl sitting quietly with her little sister on her lap, crying. The whole thing was just disturbing. But we navigated our bikes through the sea of traumatized children and made our way to the street, but DD had fallen off her bike that morning and was nervous as anything about getting back on. DS bikes as slow as molasses, wouldn't let DD pass him, but she was having to go so slowly that she was wobbling and freaking out. Then we came to a giant hill on the bike path..it is SOOOOO poorly designed for bikes. It's steep and long and DS couldn't make it up. I was trying to get to the top before I stopped to wait because I'd never get going again on that incline. But DS is SCREAMING at me "Mommy STOP STOP STOP!!! I can't make it!! Stop!! Wait!" and I'm trying to shout to him that I'm going to just get to the top of the hill, and he's freaking out. I get up there and stop and DS walks up and then DD tries to get going again and falls off her bike. Again. So now she's freaked out and REALLY not wanting to go further, but we're only halfway there and I'm thinking we're NEVER going to make it. We made it across the train tracks without getting separated (barely. Just as we got across, the lights started flashing and the bars came down) and then the 2nd set of tracks, and we made it with 3 minutes to spare. Of course we were soaking wet with sweat because it was also over 90 degrees outside. Next week should be easier as it doesn't start until 3 and DD won't have to come with me because there won't be an informational meeting for the parents, so I can just drop him off and go home and go back at 5 to pick him up. AND it's supposed to FINALLY cool down starting this weekend. But I was a ball of anxiety yesterday and it didn't help that my husband was gone all day at some sort of fair for his work, so he didn't get home until 9 last night and didn't know anything about the incident at the school. And then my FIL had his surgery this morning so we were also all stressed about that. My friends have prescribed alcohol and cake.
But, whatever it takes, these days!!! 
I'm always sooo far behind...even after I skipped about 100 pages a while back...! 
