Chapter 5 - Are we going to be ok?

The squelching brakes and exhaust fumes of the school bus were two things I would not miss about sending my kids to public school.  The children stared out the window at Macguines playing in the yard as Marshal and Mason hopped down the steps of the mass transportation.  “HE gets to PLAY?!?!”  They protested in unison.  ‘Yep,” I replied, “Five more days and you can play too.”  Grumbling and unhappy faces persisted.  Distraction was the name of the game.  Even though I had only been homeschooling, if you can call it that, for the past 3 days, I had quickly learned that distraction could be my worst enemy or my best friend.  It was best friend time.  “Let’s go get ready for Mason’s birthday party tomorrow!”  That did the trick! 

Mason’s party was so much fun, family and friends celebrated his 6^th birthday with us and a slip and slide.  Between soaking wet children slipping in and out of the house and refilling party trays with cheese and crackers, my mother pulled me quietly aside.

“I heard you removed Macguines from school.”  she commented seriously. 

“Mm-hm” I replied.  I wasn’t quite ready to talk about this yet.  I needed more time to figure this whole thing out.  How would we educate him?  We were going to home school all three, right? I didn’t need to tell that bit of news quite yet, but eventually everyone would know.  What would she think?  What should she think? 

Carefully, I explained the situation at school and how difficult it had been for Macguines to attend school there.  I explained the year full of bullies, beginning with a shrieking teacher more than a few years past retirement, and ending with an administrator flipping out over kicking rocks.  My case was quite sound, there was no way any reasonable person could think that the public schools were the correct place for my child.  I waited to hear what she would say…. I didn’t have to wait long.

She started, “Well, you know, when your brother was Macguines’ age he had some pretty serious issues and it felt like we were at the school every day.  Do you remember when Mr. Principal spanked him?  And then called us?  And Drew hated that man and even wanted to hurt him.  That principal didn’t last too long.”

“Yes, I remember.” 

“He was in so much trouble all the time and he just could not behave.  We tried everything! I even considered homeschooling for awhile.”  She confided. 

“I didn’t know that…”  I could see where this was going….

“Well, we took Andrew to the doctor, they did several tests, and they discovered he had ADHD.  I had suspected that he had ADHD.  He just could not sit still and he could not pay attention. I see a lot of similarity between Macguines and Andrew. Have you considered having him tested?” 

“Macguines does not have ADHD, Mom.  I am a counselor, I am trained to administer those tests, and he is a normal kid.”  I responded.  There had to be some way out of this conversation, maybe the kids needed more chips?

“Well, he is your son.  You can’t always see it when it is your son.  I understand why you took him out of school, but you can’t just leave school because of one bad experience.  How will he learn?  What about his friends?  He is still going to see those kids on his baseball team, what about that?”  The questions kept coming faster than I had answers.

Blessedly, Mason ran up, soaking wet, and hugged his grandma.  I laughed and went to find a towel as she untangled herself from the sloppy wet child.  I had managed to escape the barrage of questions, but what was I going to do? I had no idea. 

The next day after church I came home and got on the computer.  I ‘Googled’ everything I could about homeschooling and making friends, homeschooling and teaching, homeschooling and curriculum, homeschooling multiple children.  The amount of information I found was reassuring and overwhelming all at once.  I book marked a few pages before we headed back to church for Sunday evening services. 

As I stood on the platform singing, my mind focused more clearly.  I had left my job last fall; perhaps this was the real reason why, even though with only Drason’s income things had been getting tight lately.  I really listened to the words of the songs.  One of the songs we sang that night said:

“Lord, You are more precious than silver;
Lord, You are more costly than gold;
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds;
And nothing I desire compares with You.” 

After church some friends invited us over for BBQ.  My heart was light and happy, the boys played in the yard with the other children as the dads laughed and joked around the grill and the moms prepared the sides.  It was going to be ok.  Drason came in the back door with a strange look on his face.

“What is it?” I asked

“Um, well, I just got a call from one of our neighbors; they need us to come home right away.”  He began

“Why?” I asked, my concern rising.

“They said there was a fire at the house and they need to talk to us.” He replied.

Our friends quickly volunteered to keep the kids while we went home to check it out.  I realized that I was shaking on the way there.  Drason reached over and held my hand.  “It’s going to be ok.”  He said.

As we pulled up in front of our home I realized the extent of the fire.  Our house was destroyed.  Black smoke came from the hole in the roof.  The doors and windows, gaping charred holes.  A firefighter carried our small puppy, wrapped in a towel, and laid his lifeless body on the ground.

I sobbed.  My heart was breaking. How this could have happened?