All I Can (Jordan)

Thanks to the help of the nutritionist, Alex is already taller than I am. She's been growing like a jungle vine and, because of it, she needs lots of food...that she still refuses to eat. We're making progress, though. Alex ate a fruit and yogurt bowl with chocolate granola for breakfast and, hopefully, she'll eat this sandwich. Luckily, I caught onto the signs before Alex had a risk of re-feeding syndrome. Her personality and energy are coming back and new positive characteristics are emerging as well.

She is coping with disappointment way better than she used to. She actually came home crying when the ballet master told her she couldn't audition for the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. The tears are a sign that Alex is more open to expressing negative emotions rather than burying them deep within herself. Although most people are nice, I've had to stop using Facebook because of the influx of negative comments.

Most of them, thankfully, are not directed towards Alex, but towards me. They come mainly from other Mindcrack parents who didn't support me pulling Alex out of the school for good. They act like college is everything when it's simply not. I don't know how they were raised or what their stance is on this particular issue, but I knew early on that college wasn't for everyone. Moreover, it certainly wasn't for me.

College just didn't make sense to me. I could make more money as a blacksmith without subjecting myself to all sorts of academic nonsense. Not only that, I'd probably receive death threats for bringing Alex to my classes. Speaking of Alex, she's resorted to curling up in a ball in bed and refusing to do anything. I took the sandwich up to her room and told her to eat. She refused. Naturally, I asked what was wrong as she's been acting kind of odd lately.
         "My stomach hurts."
         "You seemed fine this morning."
         "I'm getting cramps." That could only mean one thing: Alex was about to get her first period. It's one thing to read on the Internet and another to see the changes happen with your own eyes. I obviously can't give any firsthand accounts, but I'm still determined to help in any way I can. She still had a mysterious rash from one of the dance costumes too. When I read the tag, I found that there was latex in the product. I didn't know that Alex was allergic to latex, but I'm just glad her life wasn't endangered again.