Ohhhhh, do I have a good one for you today!
I went into the school with Kai today to show him his locker and how to do the combo lock on it. Like I expected, he was totally confused so we're going to work on a combo lock this weekend at home. Techincally, he is not supposed to be using his backpack into the classroom but admin has been looking the other way for a while. He is supposed to only carry his books to class.
A couple of kids from his ESL class have lockers close to his and started talking to me. One little boy asked, "Are you his mom?" I told him I was and he then asked me why we didn't speak the same language. I told him that Kai has only had a family for 1 month and only been in America for 3 weeks. This cute young man's eyes got big and said, "Wow. What happened to his first family?" I told him we did not know. He walked away with wheels turning in his head. This is a young man who from day 1 has been so nice to Kai. All the kids in that class have been great.
After I picked him up from school, we went to a few stores in my quest for the perfect thermos...anything, really, that would keep his lunch warm at school. Options were very limited. You see, Kai doesn't eat sandwiches. What the heck am I going to pack??? If you have any suggestions, let me know. The guy likes noodles and rice. I figured since eating lunch at school was going to stress him out, it would be nice to have some comfort foods like rice or noodles.....STILL WARM!
I found a thermos at Target that would fit the bill and showed it to Kai using google translate to explain it was going to keep his lunch warm for school. He understood loud and clear and said NO...with a scowl even. I knew it wasn't about the thermos. It was about eating lunch at school. He doesn't want to do it. I said, YES, KAI. CHI FAN XUEXIAO. For those of you who know mandarin, I know I butchered it. But saying EAT SCHOOL, he knew EXACTLY what I was saying and it wasn't that he was going to have to eat the school. He grumpily said, "No!" again. I happily said YES and continued to check out.
He was bugged. He was ticked. He was mad. He followed me through checkout with a scowl and had nothing to say to me all the way home. I pull into the garage, got out of the van, and Kai remains in the backseat. I opened his door and asked if he was coming. He sat there and said NO. I said OK, shut his door, closed the garage door, and walked inside leaving a 13 year old grumpy son in a dim garage....after all, I REALLY had to pee.
A few minutes later, Mr. Grumpy Pants comes into the house and turns on the tv. Did I mention he had nothing to say to me? Nope, nothing. Here's the deal. I am a mom and my kids are often upset with me...and I am REALLY ok with that. I know they'll get over it and they will still love me. I felt absolutely NO DIFFERENT with Kai as I would have felt if any of my other four children were in his place and this realization made my heart sing. He feels just like them. Sometimes, that means pushing them to do things they don't want to do.
I let him veg in front of the tv for an hour. I know he is nervous about eating in the cafeteria at school so I let him chill out for a bit. It must of worked because when I asked him to come do his homework, he was fine....not SILLY-GOOFBALL-KAI but not I-AM-MAD-AT-YOU-KAI either. I'll take it!
Which Kai will I be facing Monday morning when I take him to school for the added class and lunch? I am hoping BRAVE-KAI.
Honestly, if this the extent of our SHOWDOWNS for now, I am one happy camper.
