THE WAY FORWARD
Within a few weeks the next mid-term break came along, and this time it was one week long! I was happy to see my gem home again, even though she still had a bagful of homework! The dirty clothes were much fewer this time, though, which was a good sign that she was settling into the school routine a little better.
We managed to squeeze in some time to chat in between the millions of errands that we had to do. Did I mention that we had to buy more pairs of socks? Then there was the mystery of the disappearing face towels. We learned much later that the other girls would take them from the washing lines and use them for their duties the next morning! EEEEK! Anyway – we talked about the school routine, academics, the teachers, etc. My gem was now able to give us a clear picture of what high school life at her school was like. Half the time my jaw was on the floor, by the way, because my high school days were totally unlike what she described!
One of the interesting school routines that she described was waking up between 3 and 3:30 am to have a shower, wash clothes, change into school uniform, make one’s bed, and then lie on top of it waiting for the official wake-up time. I still find that weird to date. The other one is Movement By Running. They run all the time! My gem’s shoes were worn out at an angle because of this!
But guess what…
She had adjusted.
She was no longer struggling to get to breakfast on time.
She was getting all her assignments done.
She was settling in. At her own pace.
This time our journey back to school after the mid-term break was not a sad one. It was filled with purpose. Though we were going to miss her, we realized that the high school journey was one she had to experience on her own. We would however be there for her whenever she needed us. We would keep praying for her and encouraging her whenever we got a chance to speak during the school term. We would support her whenever she needed a shoulder to lean on. We were going to make sure she never felt alone or abandoned even when she was far away from home.
We got to school in good time after having had a snack and some good laughs.
We prayed in the car.
We hugged goodbye.
And off she went.
We were finally getting used to this.
And so was she.