The topic in my online writing group this week is “Miracles”. At first, I thought, “Yikes, I don’t know much about miracles.” But today I remembered one.
I have a lot of kids, and getting them through school has been trying to say the least. There are a couple, THANK GOD, that got up in the morning, got ready and went to school. NO DRAMA. They even did their homework without any assistance from yours truly. Then there were a couple kids that…well, let’s just say they were allergic to that particular routine.
One daughter, in fact, high school hopped. No that’s not a dance. She was particularly gifted in attending as many high schools as she could in four years. A rather noteworthy feat. We were very happy when she graduated from the sixth school she’d been enrolled in. Then her little sister, not to be outdone, began the hop as well. I’m sure Sherry Segalas in our District Office was sick of seeing me. But this one just didn’t like the hop, didn’t like school at all; no hop, no nothing.
One of my miracles this year was getting her in school that would stick. At the beginning of summer, I was resigned to the notion she would just take the CHSPE and get out of school early. But because one of her friends attended a school in the District where I worked, she asked to go there. Well, that wasn’t too easy of a task since it was an alternative school that took in students only from our District’s two high schools. I told her I’d look into it, and promptly forgot about it until July.
She asked about it in July and accused me of not caring about her education (HAH!). I looked into it and the fella I needed to contact was on vacation until the first week of August. And I forgot about it again. The week school was to start – it started on a Wednesday – subject child asked if she was going to the school. Whaaat? Uhm…let me look into it. Now here is the miracle part: I emailed the fella, he got back to me immediately, said I needed an inter-district transfer (which definitely takes time) and I needed to meet with the principal….before Wednesday. It was Monday.
I sent the inter-district transfer to my BFF, SS, to which she replied in no time with a signed release…Yay!! The next day we met with the principal, got her transcripts from local high school and et voile…she was in and she was there for the first day of school. Miracle, plain and simple, just in case the Pope was wondering.
She has done so well in this school, has been on the top credit earner list, scored high on a college entrance exam and has been embraced by the school staff. She will definitely graduate early, not just passing the proficiency test, but with a high school diploma. I could not have asked for a better fit.
Parents with these kinds of kids will appreciate this little miracle. So when things get tough, remember what Philips Brooks wrote:
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle. ”
Amen!
FROM THE SHOE 