Now that C's birthday has passed I thought this week would begin to slow down. Yeah... not really. But that's okay. I love being busy but all this running around is starting to catch up to us. Monday I volunteered to help at the English conversation table for the Welcome Luncheon. Volunteering for the group gave me an opportunity to meet lots of new ladies that are so eager to start practicing their English. There were two really sweet ladies from Albania & Spain that I hope to see again. I strayed from the table for a few minutes and mingled with some friends and also inquired about an Italian conversation class. I would so love to be able to speak Italian. But before I join a conversation group I think I need to take an introductory course.
This week I've also been pulling out all of C's clothes that no longer fit him. I'm actually really good about recycling his clothes so I don't have a huge amount of clothes thank goodness. Since I didn't do the flea market this year I'm trying to make a big effort and sell or donate the clothes to local thrift shops. And I'm trying to do the same with my clothes as well. So far it's working out pretty well.
Lil' C has been super busy too. Between school, homework, rehearsals, dance class and a late dinner with friends last night it's been a lot for him. He seems to be handling it well but since he doesn't have much time to wind down he's going to sleep much later. So today at dance he had a complete melt down. This is what happened...
When we pulled into the dance school it actually looked like it was closed. Had I missed a notice about the school closing today? hmm... it was completely possible since we skipped a class due to his birthday party. I decided to wait a few minutes to see if any of the other parents showed up. Lil' C's vote was to leave and go home which didn't sound like a bad idea to me... I could start dinner early & we could work on his homework somewhere other than the inside of our car. But slowly parents started to arrive and dance class was back on.
It was pretty obvious C did not want to go to class. This has happened before and once C actually gets into the class he has a good time. But today was completely different.
He started crying and saying, "I don't want to go. All the kids laugh at me and they stare at me. And I don't like it. I don't have any friends in the class."
I tried to reassure him and explained that the kids were probably looking at him because he did something different than what the teacher had asked since he doesn't understand French completely. I told C it takes time to learn the language and make friends. But C kept crying and clinging to me. At this point, C had drawn the attention of everyone in the room. The owner of the dance school came up to us & asked me if everything was ok and I gave her a weak "Oui". I tried to tell C that perhaps the kids weren't laughing at him but maybe the teacher said something funny and they were laughing with her. But he just kept saying he didn't want to go. By now the dance instructor was curious about why C was crying. I wanted to explain it to her so badly but I just couldn't find the words and I found myself starting to choke up. I feel for C. It shouldn't be this hard. I look around the room and all the parents are watching. Do they realize how difficult it is to live in a country when we're not completely fluent in their native tongue. For all the wonderful things we experience here there are also these difficult and challenging periods as well. I pulled myself together and did my best to explain to the instructor why C was crying. And she nodded like she understood. The owner & instructor were really sweet and they told C that "Maman" would come in the class with him and that they would ask one of the little girls to talk a bit of English to him. I kept telling C to take a deep breath and I reminded him of how much he enjoys dancing and not to let this stop him from doing something he loves. C seem to calm down for a few seconds only to start crying again. I came so close to saying, "Ok, let's go." But I didn't. I just kept talking to him and we started walking towards the classroom. Poor C was so concerned about whether his eyes were red. He didn't want his classmates to know he was crying. I assured him that he looked fine. And we went into the class together. And he danced. And I watched... knowing this was not easy for him. But I kept smiling and encouraging him. At the end of the class I told him how proud I was of him.
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