Stupid Transportation

8:52
I received a phone call
From the parent aide
She was pulling into the driveway.

Um?
Really?
The pick-up time is 9:15-9:30.
Not ten minutes to 8.

Miss M was sitting at the kitchen table
Eating Alpha-Bits
And yogurt
In her pajamas
Hair not done
Teeth not brushed.

Sigh.
I tell the parent aide that
Miss M will be out ASAP.

9:06
I send her out the door.
Skipping to the car.

She had been especially looking forward to today
To tell her mom about Michigan
And her sister
And her brother.
She had made her mom a poster at after school club
"Number One Mom"
And was so excited to present it to her.

10:08
I received a phone call
From the parent aide
She is on her way back with Miss M
Transportation never arrived to pick up Mom
Visit cancelled.

Um?
Really?

What to do?
How to handle this
Bitter
Heartbreaking
Disappointment
For her.
Again.

What to do?
Do we stay home and veg?
Do I fill her day with fun?

I decide to greet her at the door
And see how she is.
Plan the day based on her.
Her mood.
Her needs.
Yet, be balanced.
Yet, be consistent.
Yet, be us.

10:21
The door bell rings.
The parent aide drops her off at the door with a wave
(She's on the cell phone with someone.)

Evidence of tears and crying are on her face,
In her red eyes.
I embrace her a hug in the open doorway.
A big, long, tight hug.

"Mommy's car didn't pick her up."

I want to reply with - Stupid idiots!
Instead, I say, "I know, Sunshine."

"They didn't even let me get out of the car and see
______ and _____.
Their car was right there.
I could see their shadows behind the window."

I want to reply with - Are you freakin' kidding me!!!!
Instead, I say, "I'm sorry, honey."

"Can I call my mommy today?"

I want to reply with - Instead I'll just drive you back up and pick up your mom myself!
Instead, I say, "Yes - for sure.
We just need the phone number sent."

We close the door.

She puts her "mom bag" on the floor and turns to me,
"So, what are we going to do today?"

I let her know about my hair appointment
I let her choose to come with me or I could cancel it.
She decides it would be fun to go with me
And watch
And play on the iPod
And watch a movie on the iPad.

She was a rock star.
Seriously.
It ended up being a freaking long appointment.
She was amazing.
Content.
Grateful.
Happy to just be vegging.

Then it was a "normal" Saturday.
Church
And girls' night out.

I did "bless" her a little bit today
Okay...bribe
Or spoil
Or compensate
Whatever.
But, heck.
She deserves it.

Let's see -
The icee on the way to the hair salon
A haircut trim for her
Subway lunch - with a cookie
A dipped ice cream cone on the way to church
An extra $1 added to her allowance for being such a good kiddo during my appointment.
And then our regular Saturday night dinner out.
I did resist and stay firm on not stopping for dessert after dinner.

(I did also promise to take her to go see Finding Nemo 3D tomorrow
And take her shopping to spend her allowance money.)

Oy.
It didn't feel like that much during the time,
But that list seems pretty big.
Oh, heck.
Life is short.
And God's giving me a window of time to do some spoiling for her.
So I will.

Tonight
At Girls' Night dinner
We did talk about her sister,
Ms. O,
Possibly coming to live with us
Sometime in the next month or so

I gave Miss M some scenarios
And asked her how she thought things would change.

It did come out that Ms. O
According to Miss M
Wants to live with us because
a) She thinks I sound fun
b) She thinks that Miss M is spoiled by me
c) She thinks Miss M has way less chores and the ones she has are "easy"

We did talk about that if there are three of us that means less of the "special" things
Because it will mean less money.
I did promise to keep the tradition of Girls' Night Out
And allowance giving
On Saturday nights, though.

But
In the end
Every time
It came down to the same basic, repeated statement
"She's my sister, so she should come.
I'll just be grateful with what I have."

Amen.
I couldn't agree more.
I am moving toward becoming a girl house of 3.
Me
Miss M
Ms. O
I'm ready.
If
And when
God is.
And,
Honestly,
I'm totally excited about it!

Praise Reports:
*I got Mom's phone number and Miss M called and talked for about 15 minutes.  It was awesome listening in her retell things from the day and week.  My favorite was when they were saying goodbye.  They had a "I love you more" contest.  I think Miss M won with "I love you around the world, up to heaven, back to earth, around the world again, and then back up to Jesus in heaven again."
*Miss M told me that she thinks Ms. O needs to come live with us because she doesn't get to go to church at the house she is at now. I asked if church is somewhere that Ms. O would like to go.  She said, "Yes.  Of course.  She's a Christian."  I asked what she meant by that.  Miss M replied with, "Well, I'm a Christian, too."  I asked her what that meant to her and she said "It means I know there is a God and that He loves me no matter what and I believe in Him and love Him, too."  I asked her how she knew all of this and her reply was, "I've know for a lot of years.  I could just feel His love around me and then I just had to love Him back."  Praise God for the simple faith of a child.

Prayer Requests:
-Please pray that the CPS caseworker will start working out getting Ms. O's paperwork and processes to come and live with us - if it is the Lord's will.
-Please pray for Miss M's mom.  I can't imagine how hard today was - being all prepared to come and spend 4 hours with your children and then being stuck without a way to get there because of a paperwork issue that was never dealt with by the system.  So unfair.  So heartbreaking.
-Miss M's got a cold going on and tonight had gone through a ton of tissues.  She warned me that when she wakes up in the morning there will probably be a "graveyard of tissues" next to her bed.  She's a stuffed up little girl.  Please pray for quick healing...and that we don't share this cold.  I'm still not totally over the first one we shared.