You've come a Long way, baby

The past 3 afternoons when I picked up Larkin from school, she hasn't wanted to come home.

For a few minutes she has clung to her teacher, refused to come to Matt or me and been reluctant to get her bag and jacket out of her cubby.

The first 2 times I thought it was because she was playing with her favorite teacher, Miss Jaime.

Now that she acted the same with her other teacher, Miss Lori, today when I got to her classroom, I am pretty confident the issue is something else entirely.

Yesterday when Matt and I discussed it, he suggested that perhaps the reason was related to her recent lack of a consistent home environment.

Looking back, Larkin has been away from home for 3 of the past 5 weeks, between the holidays in McKinney and the past 2 weeks at Wade's house.

I talked to Miss Lori a bit about the situation, and the more I think about it, I can completely understand how the structure of school would be much more comfortable than the instability of living in different places week after week.

To try to get things back on track for Larkin - especially before her world is rocked all over again by the arrival of No. 2 - I am determined to give her a structured evening after school for the next few days and into next week to see if her reaction to leaving school improves.

Instead of running a quick errand on the way home or stopping for dinner somewhere (if Matt is out of town), we are coming directly home for a routine evening of dinner, bath, playtime, reading and bedtime.

My feelings aren't hurt by Larkin's unwillingness to leave school at the end of the day.

I am glad she enjoys school so much, but it's not about that, really. It is important for her to know that home is a secure, stable place, too.

I'm sure that after a little time goes by, this phase will be behind us...just in time for the next big change.