If Moms had Blogs

My daughter loves any occasion to shop for clothes, and the Senior Banquet was no exception. It made me happy to see her excited about a school function. She seemed to desperately want to get that feeling of school spirit back. She didn't even mind that I pulled out the proud Mom camera and took a few shots of her and her friend all dressed up and looking like happy seniors.

The next day she told me she wanted to withdraw from school and get her GED. Through tears she told me that no one would talk to her, and she felt like an outsider. They whispered and made faces in their small town judgemental way, and she made her decision. She was miserable and anxious and didn't feel the same way about school as she used to.

We sat and cried together. I wanted to be sure that she wasn't just letting people run her out of school. There was no turning back from this decision. Would she feel bad that she didn't get to wear a cap and gown and cross that stage to get her diploma? Her response was, "why wait to graduate with a bunch of people who treat you badly and are not your real friends?".

Today she took the third and fourth (out of five) sections of the GED test. In two weeks she has the last one. She said they made her feel very smart, so I'm hoping that's a good sign that she'll pass. She wants to start community college in January and see how it goes before applying to a 4-year college. It's not the road any of us imagined for her, but it's a relief that she's moving forward for now.