Routine

Tuki likes routine and she hates transitions. Simple transitions such as getting out of the car to get in the house after I pick her up from Angie's school will sometimes set her off into a tirade. I noticed many years ago that she does much better with everything if I tell her what is coming next after next after next. She needs to know to feel safe and secure.

I say this because the last two days have been very hard on Tuki. Angie School has been closed since Monday. Angie and her son has pneumonia. My friend W watched Tuki for the last two mornings, and Tuki loves going there, BUT it isn't the normal routine. W watched Tuki until noon in which she then dropped her off at 4K. Yesterday I picked her up from 4K (normally the bus takes her back to Angie's), and then today Kiki picked her up since I had a meeting until after 4:00pm. Kiki brought her home just around 4:00pm and then Tuki, Ve and Mim were home waiting for my arrival, which was about 5 - 10 minutes later. I drove into the driveway and there I see Tuki sitting next to the door staring out at me. She was crying. I get out of the car and she greets me at the door crying even harder. I thought she was going to tell me that one of her sisters did something that made her cry. But, that wasn't the case. She burst out in tears "I missed you" and started crying harder.

I knew then the last two days were over the top for her. She held it together like a champ for W, Kiki and her 4K teacher, but when I got home she had had enough...After a few hugs and words of understanding she was all better, and she insisted well enough to attend AWANA tonight, and attend she did and she was fine. Thank goodness Angie's school is open tomorrow. Back to our routine. It may be busy but it is our routine and we all find comfort in it.