The Perfect Child(43)

She’s refusing her breakfast.

I can’t get her to eat anything.

Ugh . . . she’s throwing a fit about her clothes.

This is the outfit she chose. Wtf? Seriously?

We’re out the door. No food.

Just dropped her off. She was kicking and screaming when I left.

I didn’t bother texting. I called her right away, and she answered on the second ring. I could tell she was in the car from the echo in her Bluetooth.

“Sounds like it was a pretty rough morning,” I said.

“I’m on my way to pick her up now.” There was no mistaking the irritation in her voice.

I glanced down at my watch. “It’s only ten thirty. What happened?”

“Mrs. Allulo called because Janie had two accidents and was out of clean clothing. I sent her with an extra set of clothes, but she already pooped in those, too, so I have to come get her. I kept apologizing, and Mrs. Allulo was great about it. She said kids often revert to earlier behavior when they start school and have accidents.”

“I’m sure she’s right,” I said. “Things will get better. It’s just another adjustment period for her.”

But Janie kept soiling herself at school. She stripped off her clothes and ran around the classroom naked. She refused to follow directions and couldn’t be redirected to other activities. At first, Mrs. Allulo was understanding and compassionate. She kept assuring us that it was only a transitional period and Janie would eventually adjust. But then Janie bit another child when he wouldn’t give her the toy she wanted, and Mrs. Allulo called us in for an emergency meeting.

She folded her hands in front of her on the desk and didn’t waste any time getting down to business. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think Janie is a good fit for Exploring Times.”

“But it hasn’t even been that long. Can’t we give her more time to adjust?” Hannah asked.

Mrs. Allulo’s face, which had previously been so kind and soft, was firm and unrelenting. “Unfortunately, it’s a situation where her behavior problems affect the rest of the class, and I can’t have that.”

“Don’t all behavior problems affect the class?” I asked.

“Yes, but it’s different with Janie. She needs constant one-to-one attention, and we just can’t provide that because it’s not fair to the other kids. And I have to be really honest with you about her toilet issues—it’s a health hazard to have her spreading feces. We stressed how important toilet training was during our interviews.” She looked completely grossed out.

“She’s potty trained. She never has accidents at home,” I said.

Mrs. Allulo looked at me with disbelief. I couldn’t blame her for thinking we were lying. Janie hadn’t made it through a single day at school without an accident. “I’ve put together a list of other schools that you might want to look into.” She handed us a sheet of paper and rose from her desk.

Hannah fumed as we walked to the parking lot and waited until we got in the car until she exploded.

“She did all of that on purpose.” Her face was flushed.

“Who?” I asked. “Mrs. Allulo?”

She rolled her eyes. “No—Janie. She got herself kicked out of school on purpose.”

I shook my head. “Please don’t start.”

She snorted. “Start? C’mon, Christopher. She never wanted to go to school.”

“Yes, but only because it was too much for her too soon. Something always happens when we push her to do things she’s not ready for.”

“No, something always happens when we make her do things that she doesn’t want to do.” Her jaw was set in a straight line.

“I can’t get into this argument with you again.” I waved her off.

“Fine. It’s not like anything I say will make a difference anyway.” She pursed her lips and stared out the window.

Dr. Chandler advised us to get Janie into another school and said it might take a while to find a good fit, so we didn’t waste any time getting her into the Montessori school that was second on our list. We had to drive all the way across the city to get there, but we didn’t have another choice. I sat down with Janie the night before her first day and explained how important it was for her to have good behavior at school. We went over what was expected of her just like we’d done in our session with Dr. Chandler the previous day.

Janie didn’t even last a week at her new school. She had the same type of behavior problems that she had had at Exploring Times. They weren’t nearly as tolerant as the other school had been, and she crossed the line when she soiled herself, grabbed a hunk of her poop, and flung it at the wall. This time, the director didn’t bother scheduling a meeting with us. She emailed us and asked us not to bring her back on Monday.

“Janie, why did you do that at school today?” I asked as we walked out of the school.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Can we play Candy Land when we get home? Please?”

“We’re not talking about Candy Land right now. We want to know why you pooped your pants at school and threw it.” Hannah looked furious.

“I don’t like school.” She grinned at us. There was no mistaking the pride on her face. My stomach rolled.

Hannah turned to look at me with the most “I told you so” expression I’d ever seen her wear.