Thanks-for-nothing Thursday

I apologize for the grumpy and bitter title, but it's been a heck of a day and I just needed to get that out of my system. Well, that and this:

Where is the laundry fairy when you need her? I just realized, around 11PM, that Bella still has some large and mysterious stain on her PE shirt that I have yet to make any more attempts to remove. And stained PE shirts are a hot-button issue for the PE teacher at Bella's school. Any correspondance you receive from her will always contain something about making sure that the shirts are free from stains. Which I could totally get behind, in an ideal world, but the PE shirts are white. And worn for PE, which takes place outside. And yes, I could buy a new one, but it's awfully hard for me to stomach shelling out $30 for a t-shirt. So I will perservere into the night, attempting whatever I must to remove the offensive stain.

Scouts today was a nightmare, and I think I have an all-time record low morale in regards to every aspect of it. One of the girls smeared glue all over her upper eyelids, effectively gluing her eyes open, but after taking a moment to appreciate what a monumentally amazing thing she had done, I took after her with a baby wipe and solved the problem.

Another girl spent the whole meeting being bored and hating everything, which I know because she voiced those opinions frequently and loudly. And she kept roaming off, trying to get to the school playground. I was chasing after her on one of her many forays to the playground area but Sister Rufina caught her first. My first thought was, 'Oh crap, I'm in trouble', but Sister Rufina bent down, took her by the arm, told her something that I couldn't hear, and amazingly enough, the little explorer stayed in her seat after that. I just wish that Sister Rufina had caught her earlier, it would have made the whole experience much easier on me. Nuns rule, to put it lightly.

So I have a question for the teachers, mothers, anyone out there who could help - what do you with a kid who literally zips through every task she is assigned, then is done and bored? I just don't know what to do with this girl. She hurries through everything - snacks, crafts, activities, you name it, putting in a minimum of effort and finishing as quickly as she possibly can, then huffs about how bored she is and wanders around, distracting the other kids and causing havoc and revolt. I've tried having her help other people, and that doesn't work out - she says doesn't want to help, or she tries to take over whatever they are working on. I've tried telling her to sit patiently and wait until the other girls and finished and we move on, but she just ignores me and runs back and forth between her seat and her mother, which drives me bonkers. It would be lovely if her mother would encourage her to sit down and stay with the group, but that ain't happening and I am at my wit's end. It's not safe for her to be wandering off, and with as many girls as we have I don't have the luxury of enough time to be constantly and closely monitoring her whereabouts every second of the meeting, which is what I had to do today. I just don't know what to do with the girl. Any ideas?

I actually shouted so much at the meeting today that I am hoarse. Not shouting in anger, just having to speak loudly to get and/or keep attention and to be heard over the din of that many young girls in one place. And I just don't think the girls are enjoying it, which is a bummer because I really am trying. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Bella got in trouble today for apparently excusing herself to go to the restroom without permission. And she brought a friend with her (who I know for a fact is a very well-behaved little girl, because she is one of my scouts) on this illicit bathroom break, and the two of them just sort of hung out in the bathroom until they were missed and then got cold-hard busted. And how do I know this? Bella 'fessed up to it all. Well, she says that she asked permission to go to the restroom and her teacher forgot, but I'm dubious. She also said they stayed in the bathroom so long because they wanted to make sure their hands were extra clean, but I didn't fall for that one. Not from a child who I have to send back to the bathroom after almost every visit she makes to wash her hands. I just wonder why the teacher didn't send a note home or anything - I would think wandering out of class would be a pretty big offense, but I suppose the teacher has her reasons, and I trust her. So Bella is on Wii restriction for the rest of the week and weekend, which crushed her. I would say something about her learning her lesson, but I know she won't.

She's a good kid, though, and she has a great heart, so I can't complain too much about her. But I must confess to wondering about her thought process when I went into the bathroom to check on her showering progress this evening. I found her naked as a jaybird, dancing in front of the mirror with two enormous buttons shoved into her mouth. And when I started questioning her about what exactly she thought she was doing, she tried to play it off, like she didn't have these two enormous and colorful buttons in her mouth. She answered every question I asked her with a "Hhrrmmpphh?" question sound, as though maybe she hadn't heard me. Finally, when one button was literally hanging halfway out of her mouth, I said, "Bella, just take the buttons out, I can see them". She spit them out into her hand and then said, "What buttons?". Sigh. At least there is never a dull moment with her around.

I'm going to go check the PE shirt and hope for the best. Wish me luck!