Overwhelmed

Eva has started telling me she doesn't want to go to school anymore. We talked about it quite a bit and it seems to come down to her feeling overwhelmed and lonely. Andrew and I think back to how much our brains hurt in the first weeks and months here in Mexico and empathize huge.

She is never comfortable in new social situations, and there she is without me- her constant companion the last 4 years- not speaking the language, for a long time every day. She said that the noise and activity gets to her. I assured her that it will get better with time, and that she will learn spanish and she will make friends and become more comfortable. I also mentioned that she could ask the teacher if she can step outside when she is feeling overwhelmed. Have a few moments of quiet outside by herself. I could feel her relax at that suggestion. And then she didn't need to talk about school anymore. I am hoping this is a good solution that will help her through. Tomorrow morning when I drop her off I will speak with her teachers at more length to brainstorm other solutions. I'm sure it doesn't help that she is tired. She actually said she was so glad to go to sleep tonight! Hopefully she gets a good sleep tonight and will have a better day tomorrow. Poor kid. It is not easy. But we expect that the difficulty and effort will pay off huge once she gets over this hump. I am however concerned that if this becomes overly negative for her it could have major consequences down the road. At this point, it's not negative. It's a really great environment. But it is difficult. If you're the praying type, would you say a quick prayer for Eva?