Storytime + Engagement Ring Mishap

I am so happy it is Friday! Seriously, beyond happy. This has been a tough week and an absolute struggle to get through. Wednesday morning I had a little bit of happiness and joy mixed in, but by afternoon my luck spun out of control and I went right back to the worst week ever. But let's talk about how it started....Monday....oh yes, Monday. I work at a preschool with a private kindergarten program. During the summer months they have a summer camp session and it began on Monday. It might as well be the first day of school, because we see so many new faces. I want to say 80-85% of the students I worked with this week were new to the school. There were lots of tears, tantrums, new names to learn, new routines to get used to, and lots and lots of running around.

That's were my story starts. I was helping in a classroom where two students were pretty much out of control sobbing, crying, screaming....it was bad. The assistant teacher had one of the crying students and the teacher had the other. They were doing what they could to try to control the situation, but I could tell they needed help. One of the best things about working where I do is the staff really supports you and if they see you struggling they will step in to help. Monday I stepped in to help. I could tell the teacher was getting overwhelmed and that's the worst place for a teacher to be on the 1st day at 9 a.m. So I step in to help and the kid is absolutely screaming his head off, can't talk to him, snot running down his face, etc. We get the snot cleaned up, we decide that struggling to get his shoes back on is pointless (they were outside on the playground during this), and all he wanted was his daddy obviously (who left). Oh and the kid doesn't speak English, yeah....

When a child gets extremely out of control the best thing to try is comfort them anyway you know how. This kid was not having that. It seemed to upset him more. Ok self-soother....Plan B:  Let them do whatever they want as long as they are not hurting themselves or anyone else......Clearly the only thing this child wanted to do is go back to the classroom (the last place he saw his daddy). After trying to distract him on the playground with balls, the slide, digging in the sand, riding a bike, etc. I get to the point where I'm like fine I'm taking him back to the classroom. So I head back to the classroom and of course his dad isn't there. He hasn't stopped crying, sobbing or screaming by the way. Snot has again started running down his face. I can't find any tissues so I go in the bathroom to get toilet paper and that's when it happens......... The kid starts opening one of the classrooms doors to run out. I quickly run after him and catch him somewhere in the middle of the school. That doesn't sound so bad, right? Wrong. I didn't tell you the part where as I was getting the toilet paper, saw him running and as I was pulling my hand out my engagement ring got caught on the metal toilet paper dispenser. It doesn't sound like much and at the time I was more worried about the child that I didn't even feel what was going on with my finger. By the time I caught the kid I realized my left ring finger was throbbing and numb. Still I was more concerned about dealing with the kid at this point.

Shortly after returning to the classroom with the screaming kid the teacher, assistant and the rest of the class returned to the classroom. From there the teacher took over trying to settle the child down. It took about another hour or so but eventually we got him settled down enough that we didn't have to guard the doors and he began playing with toys off and on.

*We really had to pull together as a team to try and get through the rest of the morning with him. One minute he would be fine and the next he went right back to being hysterical. It was a challenging day for him and for us.*

Ok now back to my poor finger. Right before lunch the sad student left in afternoon carpool so I was finally able to clear my head and actually sit down. I looked down at my finger and realized it was red and severely swollen. I tried getting my engagement ring off but there was no use. I thought it's alright give it an hour and the swelling will go down. Nope. I washed my hands several times trying cold water and soap to get the ring off. Nope. I have one hour left of work and then I have to go to school myself. Once more I tried getting the ring off with soap and it did not work. I was slightly panicked at this point because I didn't want anyone to know (for some strange reason). Finally as my shift was ending I realized the swelling was getting worse. I got in my car took 3 Advil (that's all I had on me) and headed for campus. I had a project due at the beginning of class. I pulled on campus and headed straight for our campus Starbucks. I got a cup of ice for my hand finger and a grande Chai Latte. I tried getting the ring off again and again and again. Not budging. I called my fiance, I tried to Face time my fiance. No answer, ok so I started panicking. The only thing I could think to do is turn in my project and then leave and go home. So that's what I did. *My teacher completely understood when she saw my finger.* I knew I needed to get the ring off ASAP but I had already tried soap. I needed something more oily. I went into my kitchen grabbed my coconut oil Pam spray took it to the bathroom and doused my ring and finger with a heavy coat. Then I pulled, and pulled and tugged and as much as it was hurting I knew I couldn't stop. Finally I got my ring off! OMG it felt so much better. I iced it for awhile. It still hurt.

This is about 1-2 hours after I got the ring off.

Needless to say there was no way I was getting my ring back on my finger that night. So the rest of my week continues and as it does my finger is still tingling and numb (sorta like when your foot falls asleep). By Wednesday evening the swelling had started to go down and I wanted to see if I could get my ring back on, nope. But then I start looking at my ring and realize I totally bent it. I was devastated. Then as I'm looking at it I realize it's missing a diamond too!  Ugh....at this point I just start sobbing.

bent

missing diamond

It may be hard to see in the pictures but trust me it's bent and missing a diamond. I'm really sad about it, but hopefully they will be able to fix it up like new.

Sadly this isn't the only thing that went wrong this week, but now it's Friday and I can rejoice in the weekend!

xoxo Gwen