The firemen came today

Today the firemen came and visited the 1st grade. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for alarm, right? The problem is that Elaina is in the 1st grade. She has never fully (oh who am I kidding- she’s never started) recovered from her first visit to Chuck E Cheese’s when she was about 3. I will never forget when on a visit with Grandma, we took the kids to Mr. Cheese’s. All 85 of my kids were playing games, winning tickets, and having fun. Then without warning, Chuck had to walk out in his bigger- than- any- rat- should- be glory. Elaina bolted under the table and wouldn’t budge. I figured she’d eventually come out, so we watched the other kids playing and occasionally checked on Elaina. An hour later, when it was time to leave, I noticed she was still under the table. I threatened leaving her, but she still wouldn’t budge. She had connected herself to the pole holding up the table. I tried to reason with her, but she still wouldn’t move. Finally I tried to manually separate her from the pole. I had no idea that a little kid could be so strong. Maybe I’m just weaker than I think I am, but I could barely pull her off the pole. I would get one arm detached and the other would re-attach. What a horrible time that was. Eventually she got free, but it left a lasting impression on her. She cannot handle seeing human sized puppets. She freaks out. Today was no exception. Her teacher was in the receiving line after school to let me know that she had an extra appendage while the firemen were visiting. I think we may be making headway, though. Apparently Elaina was able to “stare at the ‘big dog’ before the fireman put his head on.” Haha