Not An Excuse, Perhaps An Explanation

After some reflection and conversation with colleagues at school, I've come to a realization.  Like many of the things I think, it may not be true.  But like many of the things I think, if it's not a fact, it should be.

Tuesday's post described the mayhem caused by unruly scholars in the garden.  As I replied to Laura, they are good kids who were feeling overwhelmed.  

The Assistant Principal agreed that the kids were in a state.  The looks on the teachers' faces agreed; harried is too mild a description for what their eyes conveyed.  Outburst are not unusual; this was different.   

It kept me wondering all afternoon.

Then, scrolling through what the Google algorithm sent my way, I saw the Dictator To Be's True! in response to his use of military force to remove the undocumented, starting on Day 1.  

And it seemed I might have stumbled upon a reason.

It was Monday.  They were back after a weekend with their grown ups.  Many of those grown ups were suddenly and realistically terrified.  

Many of these children lived with political and military interference in their every day lives.  Some are wearing their (donated) first new pair of shoes.  The Afghan twins speak five different languages, one for each country that harbored them for a while.  (Is it any wonder they are holding hands whenever I see them?) Functional English is unavailable to others, with whom gestures are as important as the words I'm saying. Most of them are hyper-attuned to the emotional tenor of their surroundings (cf the reaction to the kerfuffle).  

Prince Mustangs don't make excuses, they find a way.  That's their motto, and they take it seriously.  But there's no fixing who's in charge for the next four years.

All of them have been seen to laugh.  There was not a laughing vibe on Monday. It hurts my heart to think about the atmosphere in their world last weekend.