End of An Era

I haven't posted for a while because we have been having a few issues around here. We have had to make a few changes.
Little girl has been going through some emotional problems.  For the past several months she has had some anxiety and anger issues.  The tantrums and fits usually, but not always occur at night. We can't take trips anymore.  We had to return from a trip to Washington in the middle of the night because she was screaming and throwing a fit (she is seven). We even had to leave in a rush from her grandparent's house on Thanksgiving day  (BEFORE DESSERT!)  Her dad and I have tried everything in the book to try to help her and to fix this problem including various forms of punishments and positive reinforcements.  Unfortunately, her problems have just seemed to escalate over time.

 Thanksgiving week at her Nana's house was the worst episode yet, resulting in my taking her to see her doctor on Friday. Her doctor, usually conservative, had a few suggestions and also implied that we might know more about whether she had a simple behavior problem or something more serious if we could compare her home vs. school behavior.

Home-schooling has been going very well.  She does her schoolwork quickly and easily and is well above grade level in all her subjects. But despite her doing very well academically, her dad and I have discussed several times in the past putting her into school for the social aspect and for the energy-burning aspect simply because of her behavior issues. (And, let's be honest, to give me a break from her).

So after much heart-breaking deliberation, we decided to put her in school for a while. We are hoping she will be active and engaged for a larger part of her day and if nothing else, be too tired to throw fits at night. I enrolled her on Wednesday before I could change my mind ( I changed my mind Wednesday night) and she started on Thursday.

I sobbed the entire day. I sobbed in front of the secretary. I sobbed in front of the cafeteria lady, I sobbed in front of the teacher.  Big girl thought I was nuts.  I think she enjoyed the peace and quiet.

So far, so good. She loved her first day of school. She liked her teacher and made some friends. She went to bed with NO issues last night...the first time in a very long time.  I don't know if this is going to be a solution or not  but we are hoping and we are certainly hoping to return her to homeschool someday.