well, that didn't work so well

I worked my first evening yesterday, so I went in at 1pm and stayed until 10. That part was fine. But when I called mr. flea at 9:20 to see how putting the kids down had gone, they were still up and running around like banshees. I was planning to take a taxi home, but when I called again at 9:50 they were still up, so he just loaded them in the car and came and got me. I nursed the Dillo and he fell asleep, and Casper fell asleep waiting for me to be done. they were probably both out by 10:20. Then Dillo was up at 12:45 and again from 3:30-4:45, crying and coughing and generally miserable. He was fairly cheerful on getting up at 6:30, but Casper was in a terrible state of grumpiness (and I'm afraid I went the "I TOLD you so" route with her.) I am pretty fucking tired myself, but some chipper fairy dust got sprinkled in mr. flea's coffee, and he kept trying to make amusing conversation with me. Tonight, bedtime at 7:30 for all, or else.

Also, the desk was super-boring last night. Only two chats, and those in the 6-7 hour. There were plenty of people in the building, but they didn't need me.

a view of Casper through other eyes

I talked to the after school program coordinator, who is also Casper's classroom aide, this afternoon, and it was a good window into how she's doing and how she's viewed at school. Mrs. E said that she makes them laugh all day long, by being so outspoken and firm. She related a story about Casper complaining about being woken up in the morning ("I'm not ready!") and the story she told about a recent night that Dillo was up crying a lot and I had to sleep with him ("my brother had a cold and was crying and kept waking me up!") She also apparently grabbed a boy in the class very forcefully by the shirt at gym and told him, "Stop following me! I told you that I don't like it when you follow me!" No steel magnolia she - all steel.

Mrs. E said Casper is settling down into the routine and seems to be more focused on her work - at first she tended to rush through it, but she takes more time now. This is good to hear since this is a classic issue with Casper. Mrs. E described her as very articulate.

She has been taking milk at lunch, which I didn't realize until late last week, but I guess is fine. She insisted that the milk was free for everybody, but we got the bill today. I am fine with her drinking school milk - Mrs. E assures me she chooses plain 2% even! - so we'll start an account for her. I just wish it hadn't taken 4 weeks for us to figure out the situation, but no harm done.