Floss

Spitfire Diabetic, for weeks and months, had "Recess Academy." Students earn Recess Academy (RA) for not turning in homework, or assignments needing remediation. Instead of going to the classroom designated for RA after lunch, in place of recess, Spitfire began serving RA in my office after her insulin. My office isn't the somber mood of RA, and I know she was doing this to get out of a few minutes of RA. She still did work in my office, but certainly less than she would have had to do in RA. Finally, her teacher let her off RA last week. 

Come Friday, I helped with her insulin and told her to go have a nice recess. Instead, she chit-chatted and hung around my office until the secretary noticed her and told her to go "be a kid" for the last few minutes of recess.   

Come today, I had a headache. Spitfire can read me as well as I can read her, so I admitted I wasn't feeling well. She was as well behaved as ever, checked her blood sugar, went to lunch, and then came back. A friend had given her a bag of popcorn, and as I was peeling an orange, she pulled up a chair next to me. We spent her recess discussing our snacks, and when I heard her get a kernel stuck in her teeth, I asked if she needed floss. "Floss? Why would you have floss?" I told her my bag has a lot of magical things, including floss, and her eyes bugged out as I pulled some out like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. 

I don't like that she's not playing around with the other kids at recess and instead choosing to hang out with the nurse, but at the same time, I can't help but want to give her the kind of attention that I am sure she doesn't get at home. As I mentioned earlier, it's a fine line I'm walking with her: being supportive and attentive without being her best friend.