Mother knows best....
but if you were to ask Fantu she'd heartily disagree. It has been a difficult week for her since her surgery. The day of the surgery she struggled with the anesthesia, she was groggy and out of sorts all day. The pain meds (Tylenol 3) made her nauseous. Her leg was swollen all the way to her her toes. She was connected to an electric ice pack (very cool) ( no pun intended). She slept well that first night, I had to wake her to take her meds every 4 hours. She woke on Thursday feeling great. She moved easily around the house on her crutches, wanted to get out and go to Abates orthodontist appointment and she even wanted to keep her own appointment to get her eyebrows waxed. Great! I never thought she'd do so well. But the sun soon sank and with it her spirits as pain crept in and soon took over. The pain pills every four hours weren't cutting it. She was in tears she hurt so bad. The selling increased so much that the bandages grew tight and uncomfortable. It took several hours and an extra pill to make the pain manageable. I felt helpless and inadequate during this time as I just couldn't make her feel better. Friday morning she had improved. She rested for the day, kept her leg up and her only complaint was boredom. This continued through the weekend. A routine of a pain pill every 4 hours, rest, ice pack and lots of tv. She continued to feel sick from the pills and had a rash on her arm and face where they had used adhesive tape during the surgery. She was looking forward to returning to school,but yet also a bit nervous.
Monday she returned to school. She lasted until noon. Alan was home and collected her and brought her home to rest for the remainder of the day. On Monday I had returned to work after taking off to be with her after her surgery. It was a very busy day trying to catch up. I did on Monday call the school counselor to make some changes to her schedule. Athletics class had to go. Fantu is looking at a 6 week recovery. Her right knee is also starting to give her trouble and she really can't afford to screw it up and require surgery before summer. I also have watched her math grade drop with each successive grading period. I asked that they remove her from athletics and place her in a Math Concepts class to help her catch back up in Math. It would mean a shuffle in her schedule including changing her History class to a different period with a different teacher. I knew this would not go down well as she loved her history teacher. Her other option would have changed her English class and her lunch period. I knew that would not be an option as she has lunch with most of her friends. We would leave the choice up to her.
On Tuesday morning Mrs Brown called her into her office and told Fantu the plan. Fantu choose to change her History class. As soon as school was out I got my first text from her. She was mad. She'd told me she didn't want her scheduled changed but I'd gone ahead. The 2nd text she said she wasn't going to talk to me any more. I told her I had to do what I thought was best for her. She then claimed I really don't know whats best for for her ( you must realize thought that she was saying these things with a bit more anger). I'm not to make choices for her... She can make her own. My final reply was – I'm your mother, I'm older, wiser, and I do think I do know what is best when it comes to her education .I told her she can choose to be angry, to not talk to me, but I will not tolerate rudeness or for her to be disrespectful.
It's hard to make decisions like this knowing the anger it would bring. I don't like making people angry, especially family. I had to be tough. I knew she'd eventually soften up. It didn't take long. By the time we were finished dinner she was talking to me, and soon was laughing.
So now we are several days later and she complains to me about the new classes. Home work, horrible teachers, so unhappy. While behind my back she's telling her Dad how much fun her new class is and how she likes it. She a stubborn one this child. Never about to admit that maybe Mother does know best.
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