The Tale of Zachary Willowbrook: A Leap Day Paradox

Chapter 7: School Days

A couple months passed. With it approaching the middle of August, it was almost time for Audrey to begin preschool. Stacy enrolled Audrey at the Pine Valley Day Care & Preschool.

At this point, Stacy was doing everything to try to get Audrey to stop using her pacifier. Bribing her didn't work. Punishing her didn't work. Reverse psychology didn't work.

"Come on, Audrey," Stacy pleaded. "You're going to a big girl school. Big girls don't suck on pacifiers. None of the other kids will be using one, so please give it up. We can put it in your keepsake box, okay?"

Audrey took her pacifier out of her mouth. "No!" she shouted. "I love my pacie! I am a big girl!"

Stacy looked at Zachary and smiled. "Your big brother gave up his pacifier. You should do the same."

"No!" Audrey shouted. After that, she stuck her pacifier back in her mouth and walked away.

Stacy sighed. What am I going to say to her teacher? She didn't even want to think about it.

After that, Stacy looked at Zachary again and sighed. Zachary was almost six and a half. At this point, he should be in first grade by now. Instead, he is 19 months old. Fighting back any negative thoughts, she just looked at him and smiled. "You're my own special child," she whispered.

A few days passed. The day was now August 20th. On this day, it was Timothy's first birthday. With that, they threw a big party, much like they did with Zachary and Audrey, when they turned one. Timothy got some picture books, a tumble mat, a pop-up toy and a few other small toys.

Right before September, David got promoted again. While it wasn't a major promotion, it still counted as one. David now led the financial team that managed the Dreamies account. Over the past year, David suggested decisions with the account which resulted in the account saving a lot of money. This was hundreds of millions of dollars that were saved with these decisions. With all these great decisions and David being a team player, this is what led the executives at Lawson & Wager to make the decision to promote him.

Ten days passed, and the big day came. It was Audrey's first day of preschool. Stacy dropped off Audrey and watched Zachary and Timothy for much of the day. Timothy played with his new toys, and Zachary joined in. Stacy recorded these moments on her video camera, since it was so fun to watch.

Later on, the fun was over. When Stacy picked up Audrey from preschool, Mrs. Harper, the teacher, wanted to have a brief talk.

With that, Mrs. Harper let one of her aides take over the room while she talked with Stacy in a smaller room.

Stacy shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "This is about her pacifier, right?"

Mrs. Harper nodded. "Bingo. You need to take that pacifier away from her. Throw it away if you have to."

Stacy gasped. "Miss Harper. You don't understand. I can't do that. I have tried EVERYTHING to get her off of that thing...."

Mrs. Harper took off her glasses. "Miss Willowbrook. I don't think you understand. Audrey had that pacifier in her mouth all day. She didn't want to play with any of the kids. She didn't participate in any of the classroom activities either...."

Tears started to form in Stacy's eyes. "I feared that this day would come, and it has. What do we do with her?"

"You tell me. She's your child. Now that binky has prevented her from making friends with any of her classmates. During the meal times, I had to fight with her to get her to take that out of her mouth."

"That is so unlike Audrey. She usually minds a lot better than that."

"She may mind you well, but here at Pine Valley, she needs to mind me."

Stacy shrugged her shoulders, fighting the constant tears. "I don't have any idea what to do with her."

Mrs. Harper put on her glasses and smiled. "Then let me suggest what I think we should do. First of all, I would like to tell you that Audrey is not the only one that is still attached to her binky. There is one other girl in her class that is still strongly attached to her binky. Her name is Emma. Now while your daughter fought me to the bitter end, Emma was different. While I fought with her the better half of the day, she eventually let me take it away from her."

Mrs. Harper began writing something on what looked like a progress report. "Now this is Audrey's first day. So I don't expect most children to adapt to this place right away. Let me tell you what I told Emma's parents. I want to change the seating so that Audrey sits next to Emma. I want Audrey and Emma to become friends, as Emma might be able to encourage Audrey. They both share something in common so they might be able to relate to each other better."

"Now, regarding their pacifiers. I have decided that both Audrey and Emma can have their pacifiers during nap time only. At the beginning of the day, I take them away. At the end of the day, they can have them back. I want them to play and learn, and not get distracted."

Stacy sat there and nodded. "Sounds good to me. Maybe this will be good for Audrey."

Mrs. Harper nodded. "It will, Miss Willowbrook. I have worked with parents and kids for years, and from my experience, this seems to be quite effective. We will begin this with Audrey and Emma starting tomorrow. I will introduce you to just the mother tomorrow. The father doesn't come in with her until the end of the day. I look forward to working with you and with Audrey. Have a good evening, Miss Willowbrook."

With that, Stacy shook hands with the teacher and left the smaller room. She found Audrey, sitting alone on a pink bean bag, sucking on her pacifier. Seeing this, she approached Audrey, and touched her sides. "Hey, honey. Did you have a good day?"

Audrey took her pacifier out of her mouth and nodded. "Yes, mommy. I had a really good day."

Stacy shook her head. "That's not what Mrs. Harper told me. She told me that you fought her, and wouldn't give up your pacifier."

Audrey crossed her arms and pouted. "The teacher is mean! She not nice to me. She try to take my pacie away! I no let her. My pacie!"

Stacy sighed, and hugged Audrey. "Audrey honey, the teacher wants you to play with the other kids. She doesn't want you to have it all day."

Audrey grabbed her pacifier and held it close in her arms. "The teacher mean then. She is a big meanie!"

Stacy smiled, and tried to change the subject. "Did you see any of the other kids in the room? Mrs. Harper told me about this nice girl named Emma!"

Audrey's face lit up and she smiled. "Mommy! I saw another girl in classroom! I saw...."

"Slow down, honey. What girl did you see?"

Audrey, all excited, stammered. "I saw....I-I saw a girl with her pacie!" Audrey's face then changed to a frown. "But then the meanie teacher took it away...."

Stacy sat down in a bean bag chair next to Audrey. "Mrs. Harper told me about that girl, honey. Her name is Emma, and I want you to play with her tomorrow, okay?"

Audrey smiled. "I play with Emma tomorrow."

Stacy lowered her face to Audrey's level. "Listen, Audrey. You and I are going to work with Mrs. Harper to help you learn and make friends. What I want you to do is be a good girl for her. When she asks for your pacie, give it to her."

Audrey pouted and shook her head. "No!"

Stacy grabbed Audrey's pacifier and stared at her. "Now Audrey, she will not take it away from you all day. She will give it back to you during nap time. Please be a good girl to Mrs. Harper. Do it for mommy." Stacy gave Audrey her pacifier back, and Audrey held it tight in her hands. "Now, let's go home, honey."

Audrey pouted and shook her head. "Meanie teacher will never have my pacie!" With that, she placed her pacifier back in her mouth.

The time was now 5:21 p.m. Stacy sighed and took Audrey home. That night, she told David about her meeting with Mrs. Harper and her plan with Audrey. She also told him about Emma, and how the teacher wanted Audrey to play with her and become friends.

David shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "I hope this works. Her teeth are not getting any better, you know."

Stacy nodded and sighed. "Let's just see what happens."

The next day, Stacy took Audrey to Pine Valley a little earlier than the day before. It was Audrey's second day and she wanted to make sure that she was early enough to meet Emma's mom.