Jack survives his return to school

Writing a lifestyle blog regularly only works if your lifestyle is such that you don’t have too much happening and lots of time to write about it. Unfortunately that’s just not true at the moment, so I will try and cram in as much as I can before some other disaster strikes the Warner household.

We got through last weekend somehow. You know how it is when something really awful has happened; everyone loses the ability to speak or act naturally. We all seemed to be looking at our words very carefully before we spoke them, in case we caused even more upset.

Jack spent most of his time in his room. The others tried to encourage him to come out and do stuff with them but he just wasn’t interested. By the time Sunday evening came they were really worried and wanted reassurances.

Steven and I talked to them at the dinner table. Jack had his meal on a tray in his room, so we could talk more freely than if he was there, looking so wretched. We explained that because Georgina had said things to Jack to make him think he wasn’t wanted, Jack in turn had lashed out at his school friends and got into trouble for fighting.

Emily couldn’t really understand any of it. To her, life is very black and white. Jack is her brother and she loves him and she squabbles with him and that’s just how it is. The older two understood but were still indignant that something so obviously untrue could have caused so much trouble. I didn’t mention about the suspension possibility; I felt they had enough to take in.

Monday morning arrived and I managed to get Jack up, dressed and ready for school. Without making too big a deal of it, I offered to take him in the car. It wasn’t that I thought he might bottle it and not make it to the Head’s office; it just seemed less painful to get him there by the quickest route.

He wouldn’t let me come in with him. He walked off very stiffly and avoided looking at any of the other kids in the playground.

The day seemed to take forever to be over. Normally 3pm arrives far too quickly and I have to gallop to get to Emily and then Jack in time: not that day. They both got in the car and were unnaturally quiet. Finally Emily couldn’t stand it any longer and started chattering. For once I was pleased to have her filling in all the gaps in the conversation.

When it was bedtime Jack told me how it had been. Apparently he had seen the Head on his own and then he had had to apologise to the other boys. Luckily for Jack, the others just wanted to be out of her office as quickly as possible and they all shook hands and went back to class.

Jack told me he had been a bit worried that he would be in for it when it was break time but, apart from one or two comments, it seemed to have been forgotten.

If only it could be so easily forgotten by Jack.