Early morning factoid from Miss E

Me: "How's your on-line class going?"

Miss E: "It's English. I would have prefered to do History first. History is easier because it doesn't change. It just sits there. They are always adding new words to English. Hey, did you knw that they put 'aren't' in the dictionary! That's not even a real word."

Me: "Do you mean 'ain't'?"

Miss E: "No, I mean 'aren't.' Neither of them are real words."

Me: "As in, 'We aren't going to the movies'?"

Miss E: "Yeah. If you say that everyone will look at you like you are stupid because it is not a real word."

Me: "How would you say it?"

Miss E: "'We are not going to the movies.'"

Me: "Oh." Long pause. "How's your history project going?"

Miss E is 17. She is quite bright and wants to go to college. She is confident of many things, and is often shockingly wrong. At the beginning of the school year she complained about the stupidity of our country and said that it shouldn't be surprising since we had only been around for like 100 years.

It is a similar problem to the one that Danielle (with FosterAbba and FosterEema) faces. These kids are not stupid, but they have major holes in their education. Sometimes because they did not go to school at all. Sometimes because they did but their lives were so traumatic and they were moved around so often that they missed big chunks of material.

They need so much. It is overwhelming.

It was sad when Miss E left on Sunday. Her FM did not get out of the car. Her foster sister came to the door, looked at her, and then turned around and went back to the car without saying anything. I helped Miss E carry her things out. Her FM is not that distant to all the kids; I think it has to do with dealing with Miss E.

She and I get along okay, but she does not live with me.


Miss E is so full of anger. Her defenses are so high and so thick.

I would like for this post to have a point, some sort of conclusion, but it doesn't. I just feel badly for this young woman.

Next on Miss E: update