This morning when I dropped the kids off at school, Christian had a much smoother-than-normal drop off. Tessie, on the other hand, had a rough time saying goodbye. Tessie jumped into preschool wholeheartedly. I don't think she has ever had a hard time saying goodbye to me. In fact, I usually have to pull her back from her friends so I can give her a hug. Today she clung to me and said she wanted to come with me. She followed me into the hallway and refused to go back into the classroom. Finally her teacher came out and talked to her as I walked away. This is the kind of behavior I have come to expect from Christian, but I didn't know how to handle it coming from Tes. I called about an hour later to check on her and she was fine, she had gone to visit her brother and it cheered her up. In fact, when I picked her up this afternoon, she didn't want to leave.
Tonight I wasn't feeling well and had a hard time finding the patience to deal with Tessie's bedtime distractions. I finally left her room, feeling a little guilty for being short with her, and almost wanting to go back in and have a redo. Almost. So, when she emerged from her room twenty minutes later, tiptoeing towards me, I was happy to see her. I carried her to the bathroom, where she stayed for a ridiculously long time, then carried her back to bed. She still tried all her tricks on me, to prolong the inevitable, but I found the patience to speak calmly this time. I kissed her more times than necessary, and said goodnight. It was hard to leave her this morning, in such a sad state. Getting an extra chance at a goodnight was a sweet surprise, and a beautiful way to end the night.
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