The Education of Brian, IV: settling in

We are beginning to slip into a pattern.

So far Brian has been much better. He has been happy and co-operative. He does have to be reminded to do his work, but he'll do it.

Yesterday he did not get much school work finished as we spent several hours seeing the doctor about his injured arm. It had been splinted for a week and hurt him mightily. He was convinced there had to be a break and that no one was believing him. X-rays offered no evidence. The emergency room doctor had said that injuries to growth plates do not show up on X-rays. Our ever-so-patient family doctor took time to to explain pain from joints that had stiffened from eight days in a splint, what the absence of bruising and swelling implied. Brian however was indignant. His wrist and elbow hurt and no one would do anything.

I took him home and, tired of listening to him complain, I let him retreat to the game room far from me and his school work. A couple hours later he came upstairs elated to tell me that his arm felt fine. He had forced himself to move it and worked the stiffness out of it and it didn't hurt! He seemed amazed to realize that the doctor had been right.

I told him that I was glad he was feeling better and sent him to work on his on-line science class. He did work the work I assigned him, finishing the first unit with a respectable grade. I let him quit then, but he did his social science (geography) homework and daily writing first thing this morning.

It has just been one week, but so far it has been going well.