On grumpy, rainy days like today (and even worse because it’s a Monday), I wish I could keep Stephen home with me. Neither of us are stars when we first wake up. Ideally, we’d like to bum around at home before going out 10 o’clock or later. On a school day, we have to wake up around 7:30 am, go downstairs to eat breakfast at about 8, and leave for school at 8:30. We’re hardly ever rushed, always make it on time, and for the past couple of months, we were even experiencing a glowing phase where Stephen was excited to go to school and would run into the playground laughing. I believe the phase ended today.

I can’t fault Stephen for being unhappy this morning at school. It wasn’t as if I was all that eager to go either. We all have the right to be cranky once in a while. The trouble comes when we take it out on other people. I’m as guilty of that as anyone.

Hopefully the little guy will perk up a bit during the day. Or the teachers are wise enough to keep him separate from the other kids if he can’t be nice. This is when I’m not sure it’s a great idea to have a 4-year-old in devil trollschool full-time; 8:50 to 3:15 M-F. School is tiring less because of the academic work. It’s the forced social interaction that would make me lash out and I suspect that it drives Stephen mad sometimes too.

Hopefully, Stephen likes people more than I do. But all signs point to “NO.”