A Walk on the Wet Side

Today when we dropped David off for Saturday school we found that the one-on-one that was to be with him was not there. What do we do? If he doesn't successfully complete the day then he will have to be suspended instead and David doesn't perform well under pressure. We decided to leave him there, hoping that the one-on-one was just running late. We explained to the teacher he was suppose to have a teacher with him, but she hadn't shown up. We then decided to let him have the chance to succeed on his own. If he couldn't make it through the day without problems we would fight the school on Monday for no suspension since they had not upheld their end of the bargain.

Rich and I then went on our way down the hill to the community market, which had been our original plan. We love buying fresh food and flowers from the local vendors there. We always enjoy taking pictures of the happenings and people having a fun day out. We headed for the coffee shop and book store first. After Rich got his coffee fix and we found some interesting books we headed across the street to the market.

Community Market fountain

Today there was a band playing music while all around the fountain kids played and adults listened to the music. We had only been there a few minutes when a cute little two-year-old captured our attention. She was having a great time with a seven-year-old boy, who at the time we thought was her brother. Her smile as she tried to prevent him from captuing her was so cute. After a while I sat on the edge of the fountain to watch the band while Rich took more pictures. I heard a heart stopping thud and then as I was turning I heard the scream of "NO" from a mother's heart. The cute two year old had not watched her step and walked right off into the water. As I got up I saw the mother leap into the fountain and grab her daughter. Only when she pulled the little girl from the water did I notice that the mother was pregnant. As the mom turned her daughter onto her stomach to make sure any water would escape the little girl began to talk. The first words to her mom were "be careful?" The mother clung to the little girl and only then did the girl begin to cry. I went to take the daughter from her mother while Rich and another man helped the mother out of the fountain. The daughter had no injuries, while the mother was badly scraped on both knees. Rich went to get a washcloth from inside the market while I held the girl and stayed with her mother. Once the mother was clean and no longer shaken the girl gladly went back into her mother's arms. The poor mother was very upset over what could have been, but also the last words from her husband that morning were "watch her at the fountain." How was she going to tell him what had happened?

My heart goes out to this young woman as she must face her husband with the truth of the events of the day.

The little boy that had been playing with her was not her brother. But, when the little girl went into the water he didn't know what to do. When we were settled on the side of the fountain he came over to see that the girl was alright. I noticed the sides of his face were very red, when I asked about it his mother stated he felt it was his fault and had been crying. I told him about David's pet rabbit and how he had caught Roger. The boy said he has lots of rabbits that run through his yard, but his dogs always chases them away. He liked hearing about Roger's antics and slowly began to smile.

Some of our fresh market strawberries

I must have looked a sight with the front of my shirt soaking wet as I shopped.

We headed back to the school to see if the teacher had shown up—no such luck. But, David was doing well and we left again. We made a couple of trips and then explored the market again while waiting for David.

David did very well! Not so for one girl who was kicked out and given a referral. So even though the school messed up, David made it on his own, with only a few prompts from the teacher. I think the teacher gave David a little more leeway knowing he had issues and allowed him to write quietly in his journal. And David hates to write, so this was still a punishment for him.

I will address the issue with the school on Monday, since this is not the first time they have fallen down on their committments.