Ah, the start of the new school year. The moment we had been so eagerly anticipating since around mid-August, when the kids would settle into their new routine, and Papa Bear and I would be able to return to some sort of routine ourselves after a two-week high-wire act of trying to do our jobs while not having full-time child care. Everything seemed very promising. Both kids were returning to the same schools that they went to last year. Lemon even had the same teacher and the same classroom, since in our school the kids and their teacher stay together for kindergarten and first grade. Our new nanny had started and seemed competent and reliable. Everything seemed great. This, clearly, should have been our first warning sign.
Despite everything being set up optimally as far as we could tell, Lemon decided that this would be a good moment to enter one of his "difficult" periods. Well, let's be honest, very difficult. Lots of physical aggression, use of inappropriate language, unwillingness to listen to anyone about anything. Somehow he seems to have managed to keep it together in school (at least, we've received no word of the contrary) but outside of school has been a bit of a rodeo, shall we say. So much so, that our new nanny called on Saturday to give me one week's notice that she is leaving because she can't deal with him. So, I am proud to announce that Papa Bear and I have officially joined the ranks of parents whose children are so awful they drive away their caregivers. Suffice to say, we are very proud.
By which I mean kind of at our wits' end. We've tried every strategy we can think of--rewards for good behavior, different kinds of punishments for bad, talking about what's going on, not talking about what's going on, etc etc. To essentially no effect. At various points in the past when Lemon has become more difficult, we've at least loosely talked about the idea of finding some kind of counseling for him. After all, he does have rather a lot going on in his life for someone who is 6. But, I think at this point I am going to convert that talk into at least some small actions, like calling a counseling practice that the hospital recommended to another CF family in our area.I'm always reluctant to add more medical stuff to Lemon's already very full slate of medical stuff. I know how important it is to him to feel "normal" and to not have his school days disrupted by stuff that is different than what his classmates have to do. On the other hand, though, I do feel like we're at a point where the current path may not be sustainable or in his best interest long term. I hope that if we can help him find some ways to express his feelings or deal with his frustrations now, that will serve him well as he faces the other challenges that he will undoubtedly encounter going forward.
We are also looking for a new nanny, if anyone has any leads. Preferably someone with a thick skin and a lot of tenacity.