I had a busy day planned but unfortunately, it derailed by 9:30 AM. I got the kids to school without much problem. Everyone was fine and I thought – and this is where I went wrong – I thought everything was going to be okay.

Gavin and I went walking and I took him for his blood work. While I was waiting for him to come out, I got an email from the school saying that Emmett wasn’t feeling well and they’d let me know if he needed to go home. His teachers said he was doing okay for the moment.

I called the school and was going to explain that I didn’t want him pushed too far because I’m pretty sure this is emotionally based and he’s made himself sick with worry and or anxiety.. If he wants to come home, that means it’s pretty bad because this kids loves school.

While I felt better calling and having that conversation with the school, it was unnecessary because we were already on the same page.

As I was calling them they were calling me to let me know that Emmett needs me to come pick him up and bring him home.

We all suspected this was emotionally based but he doesn’t know the difference. He feels sick and couldn’t make it the rest of the day. We want him to feel safe and know that I will come get him if he needs me. If this was handled any other way, he would be afraid to go to school for fear that he will be stuck there miserable.

Gavin and I picked Emmett up and I decided to go visit my Mom for a little while. I wanted to distract Emmett and help get his mind off of whatever is bothering him.

It ultimately worked and Emmett began to feel better. We hung out for a little while before returning home and helping him get some rest.

I thought for sure Elliott would be coming home sick but he ended up doing fine. Both these guys are really struggling and I’m doing all I know to do to help them. We’ll have to focus on this at therapy tomorrow and help them better navigate this. Both the kids are hurt, angry, confused, scared and afraid to trust. They have every right to feel that way but they need to be able to work through this in a healthier way.

I foresee Emmett having more problems tomorrow because he’s just not in a very good place. Frankly, I’m pleasantly surprised he’s doing as well as he is.

Anyway, my afternoon plans went straight down the toilet and I have to try again tomorrow. There’s important paperwork I need to work on but I don’t want to do that with the kids around because it’s related to the dissolution and I don’t want that to upset them. I was trying to work on it after they go to bed at night, but I’m usually right behind them because I’m exhausted.