The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...

Side note: Does anyone else remember that book?

Such describes my day at work today. I got to work and waited outside the gate, like I always do, for the little girl I work with to show up. Today, I waited...and waited...and waited... Last Monday, the same thing happened. I waited until the bell rang and then I went up to the classroom...only to find out she had a fever and wasn't coming to school that day. So, even though I was a little frustrated that I'd been standing outside in the cold for 25 minutes for no reason, I did get paid for 2 hours...AND I wasn't feeling very good, so I was happy to be heading back home. I didn't get so lucky today.
Her mom typically comes and volunteers in her class every Monday. When she does that, she usually walks her in from the office. But, she's normally there at least 15 minutes before school starts. I kept looking at my clock this morning, getting a little excited about the possibility of being able to go home and hop back into bed for a bit. Three minutes before the bell rang, I saw her and her mom walking towards me from the office. I admit, my heart sank a little.

That was just the start of my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...

It got worse.

She was SUPER distracted by her mom being in the classroom. I haven't seen her that distracted in over a month. And, it didn't help that her mom was walking around the classroom, helping the other kids with their work. She kept trying to get her mom's attention, completely ignoring her own work and what I was telling her to do. It got so bad, in fact, that she refused to read to me. She crossed her arms and said, "No. I'm not doing it." This is not normal behavior for her. She doesn't tell me no when I ask her to do something. Ever. It's something she just started doing last Friday. I don't know if it's because she had a sub for a couple of days or what...but it's definitely getting worse, not better.
But the worst part about it is that she listens to EVERYONE else. Her peers, the teacher, her mom...anyone that told her to do the same thing I'd just told her to do, she listened to. It seriously made me really frustrated. I kept thinking, If she was my kid, she would be in SO much trouble... I had to walk away and give up a couple of times, just to get my emotions under control. I don't want to lash out at her accidentally. I don't want to frustrate her even more by showing my anger to her. I went up to the teacher a couple of times and told her she wasn't listening. The teacher would go right up to her and ask her to do her work...and she'd do it.
This continued throughout the rest of the day. It seemed that whenever she was bored or "done" with whatever we were doing, she'd cross her arms and tell me no again. I seriously left work super stressed out. Thankfully, I had a massage appointment scheduled for this afternoon (thank You, Jesus, for timing that one out perfectly!). I had a LOT of knots in my upper back that needed to be worked out...all due to stress and work, I'm sure.
I know I shouldn't let a 6 year old girl get me so frustrated...but knowing how sweet and even tempered she normally is...just makes this that much harder. She's never been defiant before. She has always listened to me and done what I've told her to do...even if it takes her a little while to do it.
I am really hoping things will be better tomorrow. The teacher is going to email her mom and let her know what's been going on. I really want to see that sweet little girl again tomorrow...not the monster I've been seeing lately. I really want this last week of work before break to be fun...not dreadful...

Ugh.

The joys of working again.

I really do feel blessed to have this job. I do enjoy it...most days. Today was just the worst day I've had so far. It tested my patience, my willpower, and my grace level. God, give me the strength to deal with whatever comes the rest of this week!!