January 5, 2006

Well, yesterday went better than I feared. She was a bit confused and anxiously irritated when I checked her out of school and told her where we were going. She was sullen and withdrawn and sulky during our orientation session with her new counselors. But ... she stayed. And she wasn't confrontational. And I think she listened.

She was smiling and laughing with the counselor when the little ones and I arrived to pick her up for the day. Of course, the minute we walked out of the facility she was immediately sullen and sulky, but I expected so much worse. She scowled most of the way home and went straight to her bedroom to play her stereo too loud, but, again, I expected that. The surprising part was her niceness when her dad got home from work. She even wished him a happy birthday and ate all of her dinner (of course, it was her favorite dish) and spent a pleasant evening with the family. While I was gone for the night (rehearsal), her boyfriend came over and helped her get her college application filled out and emailed.

All in all, it was a good day. I am cautiously optimistic.