Dot Com Success, Career Restart [Part 2]

Dot Com Success, Career Restart 

[Part 2]

By Daring Diane

Chapter 21

After lunch, Miss Jefferson told Jennifer to go to the principal’s office.  Jennifer started to gather her things.  Miss Jefferson told her to leave her things and head to the office.  Jennifer tried to explain that she would not be coming back.  Miss Jefferson cut her off and sent her on her way with a hall pass. 

In the office, Mrs. Barham explained that she was going to take Jennifer over to the administration offices in a minute.  Jennifer had to sit on a wooden bench while waiting for Mrs. Barham to finish up. 

Finally, Mrs. Barham got up and led Jennifer over to the administration building.  She left Jennifer there on another bench and headed back to the grade school. 

After sitting on another uncomfortable bench for a while, Jennifer was called into an office by Sara Adams.

********************

Moments before:

Sara Adams and Mary Martin sipped their coffee and watched Amanda Barham walking the little girl across from the grade school to the administration offices. 

Sara looked at Mary and smiled.  “She looks like any other grade school student.  In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was in a lower grade than seventh.  She just doesn’t have the look.” 

Mary looked at her with pleading eyes and sarcastically asked, “Won’t you please educate my wayward daughter in-law in your wonderful catholic school?  I don’t care if we have to start all over again.”  Mary was snickering a little at the end.

Sara was contemplating.  She and Mary had been talking about ways they could keep Jennifer in the grade school for a while to teach her some important life lessons.

Sara looked at Mary, “Mrs. Martin, I am sorry to inform you that our school believes your youngster needs to be tested to determine the correct class we should place her in.  After testing, we will assign her to a permanent homeroom where we will do our best to eliminate the sharp edges from your little girl.  Leave it all up to me.”

Sara opened the door and asked Jennifer to join them in her office.

********************

Mary Martin was sitting in a guest chair on the far side of Sara’s desk.  Sara moved behind her desk and instructed, “Jennifer, can you please stand in front of my desk so we can discuss your situation?”

Jennifer was so excited about resolving things she failed to notice the dominating position Mrs. Adams took as Jennifer was placed in the position of the student about to receive instruction or correction.

Jennifer stood casually and looked over at Mary.  Sara said, “Jenny, stand up straight.  When you are in my office, I expect a certain amount of respect.  You will stand up straight, and look at me.  Mrs. Martin is here because of your situation.  I am here to explain how things are going to work out.  Do you understand?”

Jennifer answered quickly, “Yes, mam.”

“Very good,” Sara continued.  “I understand that you have been placed in a class room with Miss Jefferson.  Is that correct?”

“Yes, mam.”

Sara asked, “And you are wondering what is going on?”

Jennifer answered, “Yes, mam.”

Sara continued, “Let me explain.  As you know this is a new program.  We are trying to work out all the kinks.  First of all, I did not know that you had little religious instruction prior to joining our school.  Obviously, since we are a religious school, religion is important.  While we will not tell you what to believe, you will need to learn the tenets of our religion and abide by them while here at the school.  Can you see why that would be important?”

Jennifer thought for a second and said, “Yes, mam.  I can see that would be important.”

Sara added, “In addition, you need to understand the full education offered at our school so that you can add value to the educational process.  Since you never attended any kind of parochial school, we feel that it is important for you to know everything that happens as a student progresses through the school.”

Jennifer nodded her understanding.

Sara said, “So, we will have to have you spend time in the grade school to learn the ways of the school.  It is a necessary step.  We probably should not have just dumped you into a seventh grade class without more discussion.  But, they already did that and now we have to deal with the situation.  This afternoon, you, Mrs. Barham, and I are going to talk about several different educational concepts and see what your thoughts are on them.  Then we will determine a plan for how we can best get you up to speed on how our school works.  How does that sound?”

Jennifer thought that sounded like she would finally be in the right path.  “That sounds good.”

Sara then added, “Now Jenny, you are going to spend time in the grade school.  We just have to determine where and what is the best place.  You need to understand that this is all part of the long term goal of getting you a job.  Once we are done training you and you can demonstrate your knowledge, we will move you along so you can learn more difficult things.  Everything in a school builds along the way.  You are taught basic concepts and then you are taught how to use that information in more advanced situations.  Eventually, we will get you in a place where you can help teach others."

Jennifer nodded and said, “Good!”  Jennifer was worried about the roundabout way they were getting there.  But, apparently this was putting her on a path to be able to do the teaching and that would lead to her fulfilling the employment agency’s requirements.  At this moment, she understood that her steps were, go to school, perform well, get approved to teach, teach at the school and then get her release.

“Now Jenny, while you are in the grade school, if you are observing or participating in a class, you will have to do the work and demonstrate your knowledge to the class.  The teachers will be evaluating you, your participation, your knowledge, your attitude, and your demeanor.  With your experience and previous education, you should be the shining star in any situation where we put you.  That is how you will complete this program and move on.”  Jennifer indicated she understood and Sara directed her to leave and sit down in the outer office while she said some final words to Mrs. Martin.

After the door closed, Sara turned to Mary.  “I guess we will test her and see what grade the grade school thinks she should actually be in.  Then I’ll try to push this as part of the program.  If she doesn’t take the tests seriously, she could be put back.  We’ll see.”

Sara gave Mary Jennifer’s purse in a bag.  “I think you should probably keep track of this until little Jenny grows up and needs anything in this big girl’s purse.”  Mary smiled and tucked the purse under her arm.

Sara took the child’s backpack and gave it to Jennifer before telling her to follow her. 

Chapter 22

Mary Martin left the school and Sara escorted Jenny back to the grade school. 

Sara, Amanda Barham and Jennifer entered a small office and Jennifer was told to sit down at a desk.  Jennifer was given a notebook and a couple of number 2 pencils.  Amanda then began asking questions.  The questions jumped from subject to subject and covered basic math, history, English, religion, and geography.  The questions varied from low level to things expected of higher grades.

Near the end, Jennifer was told to write out several paragraphs as answers to artistic questions and she was told to write examples of word problems to frame certain math examples.  The purpose was to test the student’s understanding of the concepts and to create working examples of the student's writing.

As the school day came to a close, Jennifer was told to return to Miss Jefferson’s room to get her things and head for the school bus.  Jennifer collected her books and placed them in the child’s school backpack. 

Amanda and Sara began the evaluation of the test results.

Sara called Mary Martin later that evening.

“Mary,” Sara started, “I have bad news.”

Mary was suddenly worried, “What’s the matter?”

Sara paused, “Jenny’s scores were pretty surprising.”

Mary asked, “Did she do better than we expected on the tests?”

Sara clucked, “Much better.  She actually scored very well on her math scores.  It suggested she was very advanced in math.”

Mary was worried this would destroy their plans.

Sara continued, “On religion, she comes out at barely a second grade level.  She doesn’t even seem to understand basic concepts of theology unrelated to any specific religion.  And, it turns out that Jennifer has some serious problems with geography.  Her handwriting looks more like the second graders.  Apparently, her use of computers has hidden her horrible illegible handwriting.  But her writing concepts are more advanced.  History she got some right and she got some wrong.  All in all I was surprised by her overall performance.”

Mary was getting depressed.  “So, I guess I’ll have to find some other ways to control her.  Thanks for trying.”

Sara laughed, “I don’t think you understand what I was surprised about.”

Mary, “What?”

Sara explained, “Mary, I can’t believe a person with a college degree from even the worst school in the country could have performed this poorly on a grade school aptitude test.  Since we don’t test for technology, all her computer skills don’t really get rated.  Little Jenny will be classified as a special student and she will have a different scheduled than some of the other children in her class.  However, given her problems with religion and penmanship, Amanda and I have decided to change her homeroom.  Little Jenny will need to fix her handwriting and learn about religion.  She also needs some work on geography which is taught in all grades.  She will be placed in a homeroom with students that have similar capabilities to her own.  Miss Annie will be her new homeroom teacher for the second grade.  While her math skills are advanced we want to focus on the areas she needs help.  So we will not place her in an advance math class.  Instead she will be the math teacher’s special helper since she know most of the concepts.  This will keep her from using her advanced math and keep her working on basic math with the rest of her class.  Religion will be something we will work on.  If she decides she believes in our religion, she could go to first communion with her second grade class.  I am sorry, but our decision is final.  Tomorrow, little Jenny will be reassigned to a second grade homeroom.  I will meet with her and explain that she needs exposure to all the different grades and it important to start in the lower grades.  And, of course, everyone starts out in the lower grades before moving up into higher grades.  The other day I gave her that speech about evaluations and moving up.  Of course, that is what school is.  If she does well and gets good evaluations, I’m sure you will be happy to have her move on to more advanced things..”  Sara Paused for effect.  “..she along with her other classmates will move on to THIRD GRADE.  Mary, you will remember our evaluation forms from when your son was younger, they are called semester grades.  Little Jenny is so caught up in the web we are weaving, she does not realize that I used big words to describe how schools work.  At this rate, she should be able to get that teaching job in about 11 years.  That is because she will have to complete all her studies in the high school after grade school graduation.”

Mary could hear Sara’s smile through the phone.  “Sara, I want to thank you for trying to do what is best for my little Jenny.  I need to run now so I can put her to bed.  School girls need their rest.”

Sara just hoped this didn’t come back to haunt them later. 

Since dinner had finished, Jennifer had been watching the television in the family room.  Mary suggested that Jennifer get ready for bed since she had an early day again tomorrow.  She reminded her that the last few days had been pretty busy and that she needed to be fresh to perform well at the school. 

When her son got home later that evening, he was surprised to again find his wife already in bed.  His mother explained that Jennifer’s school had been very trying and that she was worn out.  They talked into the evening about his new job.  Paul indicated he needed to get up early for a meeting at work. 

Chapter 23

Mary knocked on the door to get Jennifer up.  Jennifer was surprised to see that Paul had already left for work.  She showered and donned a pair of the childish underwear and camisole.  Then she put on her school uniform and matching hairband.  As she finished the breakfast Mary had prepared, she looked at the clock and saw that the bus was coming soon. 

As Jennifer stood up, Mary said, “Jenny, I put your school book bag at the back door.  Don’t forget it.”

Jennifer picked up the book bag and slipped her arms into the straps.  Mary walked with her out to the bus stop.  Mary leaned down to talk to Jennifer before the bus pulled up.  “Jenny, I don’t know what Mrs. Adams plans are.  But, I am sure she will get you out of that seventh grade class today.  Just remember the school has a plan and they are in charge.  You need to do what you are told and this will all work out.  Promise me you will do that.”

Jennifer only caught the part about probably getting out of the seventh grade class and smiled.  “I promise.  I will do what they tell me to do.”

Mary watched her get on the bus and turned to return home.

At home, Mary decided it was time for Jenny’s world at home to evolve to be consistent with her school world.  Jenny needed to have a simple home life consistent with that of a young catholic school girl.  Mary approached Jenny’s room.

Jennifer and Paul had brought limited clothing with them since they did not want to overwhelm Mary in her home.  Mary had insisted that Jennifer leave her professional clothing in storage.  Jennifer only brought casual clothing.  However, Mary had already seen a few items which she did not approve of in Jennifer’s wardrobe.

Mary decided that little girls needed school clothes, play clothes, one or two nice outfits and underwear.  Anything else was a waste of space.  Therefore, she swept through Jennifer’s possessions like a whirlwind. 

Mary removed any adult dressy outer clothing.  That included a couple of dresses, some blouses, skirts and a pair of dressy pants.  She removed all of Jennifer’s shoes except for a pair of tennis shoes.  Jenny had her good shoes for school and her tennis shoes for playing.  She also left a pair of flip flops.  Jennifer had her school uniforms, some jeans and a couple of tank tops and t-shirts.  Everything was totally age generic.

She removed any underwear which was not consistent with a young grade school girl.  That meant she collected all bras, panties, camisoles, slips, nylons, and trouser socks.  All make-up was packed up.  Mary left some combs and brushes for Jenny to fix her hair.  Mary left a few pair of cotton socks and some half socks for wearing with her tennis shoes.

Jenny had brought a laptop.  But, Mary put that away along with all of Jennifer’s ID, her purse, phone and wallet.  Second grade students do not need to communicate with the outside world. 

Chapter 24

Jennifer arrived on the school bus and was herded to Miss Jefferson’s class.  After the initial class morning tasks, Jenny was told to take her things and go to the office.

Jenny was all smiles.  She grabbed her hall pass and almost strutted to the administration office. 

Mrs. Barham smiled when Jenny came in.  “Jenny, can you please give me your student ID?”

Jenny smiled. “Yes, Mam.”  Jennifer unclipped the card and handed it to Mrs. Barham.

Mrs. Barham told Jenny, “Jenny, Mrs. Adams and I have evaluated everything and we need to change your class assignments.  It’s early in the school year so this should not be a big deal.”

Jenny continued to smile, finally they had everything straightened out. 

Mrs. Barham continued, “Now, Jenny, you need some serious help in understanding your religion studies.  And we are going to address that.  In addition, we are assigning you to a special writing class.  Do you understand?”

Jennifer heard her fine.  “She knew she needed to learn about the religion stuff.  And hey, if they want to put her in creative writing or somewhere she can show off her writing ability, that’s great.”

Mrs. Barham had a new id card in her hand.  “Jenny, we are going to move you to a new homeroom.  I have talked to Mrs. Adams and she says you are a special student.  Now that means that you will have special classes and we will determine your situation and adjust your classes based on your performance.  We are confident you can succeed and we are here to help.  Since your first class of the day will be writing with Miss Annie, we are going to place you in her homeroom for convenience.”

Jenny didn’t know any of the teachers so names meant nothing. 

Mrs. Barham had a schedule which indicated classroom numbers and times of day.

Mrs. Barham escorted Jenny to her new classroom and handed her off to Miss Annie.

Arriving in room 102, Jenny got another shock.  A teacher looked up at her and smiled.  “You must be Jenny.  Welcome.  I understand you’ll be joining our class.  My name is Miss Annie.  Please sit at the table on the right.  You can introduce yourself to the other kids at your table.”

The kids were little kids.  This seemed wrong.  “Miss Annie, is this where I’m supposed to be?”

Miss Annie patted her on the head and said, “Yes dear.  This is writing class and you have been assigned to my class.  I’ll have you writing like a champ in not time.”

Miss Annie handed out lined paper to everyone.  It had one inch spacing between the solid lines and a dotted line separating the two solid lines.  She then gave everyone a pencil out of a cup.

Miss Annie went to her chalk board.  There were similar straight lines and dotted lines on the board.  She took some chalk and wrote in cursive “a b c d e f g”.  She turned to the class and said, “Everyone please write these letters on the first line of your paper.  These are all small letters and you should write them as I have done on the board.  Use your lines.  There are five sets of lines on your paper and I expect you to write your letters five separate times.”

Jennifer started to ask a question and she was cut off by Miss Annie.  “Raise your hand if you have a question, Jenny.”

Jennifer raised her hand.

Miss Annie paused before calling on Jennifer, “Yes Jenny.”

“Miss Annie, I think there has been some misunderstanding.  I don’t think I should be in this class.”  Jennifer sounded petulant.

Miss Annie tried to calm her down, “Now, now, little Jenny, I spoke to the administration personally before you were assigned to my class.  I have read some of your handwritten examples and they are unacceptable for a young lady.  You were assigned to this class to learn how to write in a legible manner.  That is what we focus on in our class.  Now, you don’t want to get behind.  I suggest you start practicing your letters.  No more chattering.”

Jennifer was insulted and felt belittled.  How dare this woman talk to her this way?  She needed to talk to mom and Mrs. Adams.  Something was wrong.

Jennifer huffed and puffed.  But, she finally started writing the first seven letters of the alphabet in small letters on her page.  She did it quickly, filled in all the lines and then sat back.

Miss Annie was walking behind each of the children and correcting them on their letters.  Telling them to stay between the lines and advising them on the shape of their letters.  Eventually, Miss Annie showed up to look over Jenny’s shoulders.  She shook her head.

Miss Annie proceeded to decimate Jennifer’s letters.  According to Miss Annie, Jenny had done all of the letters wrong.  Miss Annie gave Jenny a new piece of paper.

Miss Annie shook her head and instructed, “Jenny, you need to go slowly.  Do each letter as if it is a special project.  You should be able to feel your pencil flowing on the paper.  Good handwriting can be beautiful.  Now try again.  But do it slowly.  I’ll watch you for the first few letters.”

Jenny started writing the letters and she got to the ‘C’ before Miss Annie interrupted.  “Jenny, slow down.  Slide over here next to Patty.  Patty, show Jenny how you write your a, b, and c.  Now pay attention Jenny.  Patty has been making some real progress.”

Jenny was being told to watch her table mate Patty.  Apparently, Patty was a successful printer of her cursive letters.  Jenny could not believe she was being told to get help from this little girl.  How old was she anyway?

Jenny tried to watch the girl writing her letters.  Jenny’s assignment had now been reduced to only three letters not the first seven.  And yet, she seemed to be failing.  Jenny was having a hard time maintaining her composure and her confidence.  Miss Annie was trying to tell her that this little girl had better handwriting than she did.

Jenny tried to mimic the little girl’s method for writing the small flowing ‘a’.  She found herself actually having trouble keeping her circle under the dotted line.  After four or five tries on the ‘a’, Miss Annie indicated she was making progress and suggested Patty continue helping her. 

Patty and Jenny continued to work together and Jenny slowed down her writing.  She took her time trying to form the letters and by the end of class, Jenny and Patty were happy to have worked on all seven of the first letters in the alphabet.  As Miss Annie was wrapping up class, Jenny was slightly bothered that she had momentarily felt successful and almost happy with her performance at writing the first seven letters of the alphabet.  Jenny heard Miss Annie tell them that as soon as they mastered all the letters, they would start connecting them together to make whole words.  Jenny felt the situation was ridiculous.

Miss Annie announced, “Now children, we will have a quick bathroom break before our next lesson.  Everyone line up behind our line leader.  Jenny, you will be in line behind Patty.”

Miss Annie led the line to the hall outside the girls and boys rooms.  Everyone was told to sit on the floor and three children were allowed in each of the bathrooms at a time.  Jenny realized these kids were younger than her other classroom.  But, she still did not realize what age they were.  Jennifer felt this was a rather juvenile way to handle things.  She initially went into the bathroom and got into a stall.  As she sat down to go to the bathroom, it was clear there would be no delaying or wasting time. 

But as she sat there and did her business, Jenny glanced down at her ID card.  Suddenly, she felt all the air go out of her and she had to clamp her hand over her mouth.  She found herself crying quietly.  Her ID card said, Jenny Martin, Miss Annie, second grade.  Jennifer wanted to hyperventilate.  Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  It was the teacher.

“Jenny,” Miss Annie said, “Are you Okay?  One of the girls heard you crying.”

Jennifer tried to take a breath.  She barely croaked, “I’m Okay.  Please give me a minute.”

Miss Annie was aware that new students often had problems.  First days were always hard.  But, you can’t let them stew.  “Jenny, you are holding up your class mates.  I can give you a minute.  But you need to pull yourself together so we can get back to class.”

A moment later, Jennifer begrudgingly left the restroom and rejoined her line.  She now understood why they were in a line and the attitude seemed more juvenile.  She understood why the material seemed a little easier.  How was she going to get this fixed?

Miss Annie proceeded to the religion class.  Jenny tried to pay better attention in class.  The teacher gave her a page of assignments after each lesson so she could supposedly catch up.  Then they broke for lunch.  Jenny had little appetite.  Other girls sat around her and kept up a chatter.  Jenny was trying to figure out how her life had spun out of control.

After lunch, the class was going to work on math.  The math teacher introduced herself and pulled Jenny aside.  “Jenny, I have been told that you are pretty good at math.  And I was also told that you may want to be a teacher.  So, you are going to be my special helper and teacher’s assistant in math.  This way you will learn all about being a teacher.  Won’t this be fun?” 

Jenny wasn’t so sure if it would be fun.  But, she thought practicing being a teacher sounded more in line with her goals around here.  She told the teacher, “Yes that sounds good.  Just let me know what you need done.” 

The teacher thought that sounded so cute. 

Jenny was assigned to help some of the kids who were having problems with math.  She shared their table and tried to show them how to do things without giving them the answers. 

Then Jenny and her class moved on to Geography.  Jenny returned to her homeroom after geography and she and the rest of her class went out for recess.  At recess, lots of the girls introduced themselves and they tried to get Jenny to run around with them.  This class was a lot more active than her seventh grade class had been.  After recess, the teacher stopped the class outside the bathrooms and again metered the kids into the bathroom. 

After Jenny and her classmates returned to class, Miss Annie handed out a snack to the children.  After snack time, Miss Annie began talking about history.  Jenny finished her day with Miss Annie.  Jenny and her classmates went hand in hand to the playground where everyone then boarded their buses. 

A couple of Jenny’s old classmates gave her odd looks as she boarded the bus.  Jenny sat alone on the bus and tried to think about her day so she could work with mom to understand what was happening.

Mary waited for the bus to arrive.

Jenny got herself all worked up and really felt a need to explain what had happened at school today.  When the bus stopped at her bus-stop, without thinking, Jenny felt an urge to get to Mary to explain what happened.  Jenny quickly jumped from her seat and all but ran from the bus to the waiting Mary. 

Mary had her phone out because she wanted to get a picture of little Jenny in her uniform.  Then she thought it might be fun to video Jenny getting off the bus.  She hit the video button as the bus came to a stop.  As the door opened, Jenny jumped from the bus and ran to Mary.  She started talking a mile a minute before she even caught up to Mary.

Mary panned away from Jenny for a second and realized that all the smaller children were behaving in a similar way.  They couldn’t wait to report on the day’s activities. 

Mary took Jenny’s hand and they walked home.  Mary continued to record, but most of the video was of their walk home.  The audio however, was great.

Jenny reported that they moved her homeroom.  At first she thought this was great.  However, then she found out she was in a second grade class instead of seventh grade.  She reported on crying in the bathroom and Mary comforted her.  Then she reported on her after lunch class.  Jenny was assigned to a class of younger kids.  She reported that the teacher was named Miss Annie.  While she kind of liked Miss Annie, she talked down to her.  In addition, her first class was how to write and print letters.  Clearly, this was beneath her.  She told about her session with Patty and the later class on religion.  She mentioned that she was apparently helping teach in math. 

Mary understood that Jenny was supposed to practice her writing some more this evening and do some reading for her other classes.  While Jenny reported on school, Mary prepared a quick snack of fruit and a little cheese.  Jenny seemed to take no notice of this but quickly consumed the food while relating her day’s activities. 

Mary moved Jenny, in her uniform to a table in the family room and helped her pull out the writing paper so she could do her assignment.  Then Mary stacked up her books for reading.

Jenny seemed disappointed.  She wanted Mary to fix this problem.

Mary said, “Jenny, Mrs. Adams and I talked yesterday both with and without you.  She explained that you need to understand the school, their procedures and you need to show that you have the knowledge they require for you to participate in their more advanced classes.  Mrs. Adams is bending over backwards to get you into the right sessions.  You need to understand and be able to write the way they want you to write.  Not the way you think is OK.  You have no knowledge of religion.  So, they obviously have to put you in a lower level course.  Maybe Mrs. Adams felt that you would learn more in this new homeroom.  You have to trust that these school administrators know what they are doing.  You have to accept that they are helping you.  She is putting together a plan so that when you are done, you can get a job teaching.  Then you can complete your year of obligation and determine if this is the career you want or if you need to try something else.  Now we have spent too long talking.  It is time to get your work done.”

Mary was surprised when she realized that the paper Jenny was using was similar to that used by kindergartners and early grade schoolers.  Jenny looked just like any other second grade student she had ever seen.

Mary and Jenny had dinner and Jenny still had some more reading to complete. 

Mary received a call after dinner from one of the mother’s at Jenny’s school.  The woman introduced herself as Erin Reardon.  Erin explained that Jenny was apparently in her daughter Patty’s second grade class and that they had been teamed up in writing class.  Patty was very excited about her new friend and wanted to invite her to her birthday party which was this coming Saturday.  Erin explained that all the girls would dress up in party dresses to match their American Girl Dolls.  They were going to have a tea party and play.  Erin assumed that Jenny had an American Girl doll since all the other second graders did too.  Mary assured her that Jenny would be there with her doll for the party.  Mary asked what kind of gifts Patty might like and finalized plans for the party.

Mary got off the phone and thought.  She realized that this girl who liked Jenny was in her handwriting class which apparently was full of second graders.  Jenny was going to need an American Girl Doll and a matching party dress.  Mary was surprised that she found this exciting.  She was looking forward to showing off her little girl.  Of course, Jenny was small physically, while she was not really a little girl.  But, that didn’t really bother Mary that much.

Mary didn’t want to get Jenny too excited this evening so she decided to tell Jenny about the party in the morning.

Mary checked on Jenny and she was finishing her reading assignments.  Mary suggested that Jenny take a quick bath before getting ready for bed.  Jenny thought that sounded relaxing and made her way to the bath. 

Mary retrieved Jenny’s uniform and underwear while she bathed and laid out clean school underwear and a long sleep shirt.  Jenny was so mentally worn out after her day and the bath that she pulled on the clothing without thinking and slid into bed.  Paul was far from Jenny’s mind as she drifted off to sleep.

Paul came home from work late and had big news.  The company was sending him out of town on a training program. 

Chapter 25

The next day, Thursday, while Jenny was at school, Mary went shopping.  Her first stop was the American Girl store.  The dolls were expensive, but Jenny was worth it.  Mary found an American Girl doll in the Truly Me collection which looked similar to little Jenny.  The doll’s light skin, dark hair and green eyes were very similar to Jenny’s authentic look. 

As she was shopping for the doll, Mary looked over the accessories and found a new dress for Jenny’s new doll called the Pretty Pink Outfit.  The great thing about this dress was that the store sold a matching girl’s dress so that both the doll and Jenny could wear the identical outfit. 

Mary purchased an additional dress as a birthday gift for Jenny’s friend Patty’s doll.

After her purchases, Mary simply acquired some pink plastic sandals that matched the doll’s shoes.  Then she dropped into a kiosk and got a bracelet to match the doll’s pink bracelet.  Anyone seeing Jenny in this outfit would see nothing other than a little girl.  The question is will Jenny be anything other than a little girl.  Mary could not wait for the party so that she could find out.

In writing class, Jenny wasn’t sure if she should be excited to move on to the next group of letters “h i j k l m”.  Jenny and Patty were again working together. Patty was excited to tell Jenny that her mom had called and invited her to her birthday party.  Before Jenny could respond to this, Patty informed her that “her mom” had said she could come.  Patty squealed and bundled Jenny into a bear hug while telling her how excited she was.

Jenny tried to write her letters slower and Miss Annie seemed more satisfied than yesterday.  At the end of class, Miss Annie had everyone try to write all of the first 13 letters.  She did not give them a lot of time and even Jenny let some of her old habits come back. 

Miss Annie told everyone to practice at home tonight. 

Miss Annie ran the children through their religion class and at the end of the day guided her charges towards the busses.

Coming off the bus, Jenny was still not happy.  She needed to get home so she and mom could talk about this party. 

Mary met her little girl and they walked home.  Clearly Jenny had something on her mind.  Mary had her sit at the kitchen table and wait while she prepared a snack.  Mary wanted to instill procedure and dictated activities into her evolving little girl’s life.  These kinds of behavior control make managing children easier and Mary wanted Jenny to be managed and dealt with like a child.

When she had the snack prepared, she sat down across from Jenny and asked her what she wanted to talk about. 

Jenny reported on what Patty had said.  “Did you tell her I would go to Patty’s birthday party?”

Mary smiled and said, “Of course, I did.  You are going to have a great time.”

Jenny was beside herself.  “Why would you tell her that?”

Mary answered, “Because you are in school and in class with these people.  Mrs. Adams said you needed to understand them and the environment.  You need to bond with the students in your classes.  You don’t know any of these people.  Patty’s mother went out of her way to add you to a party which she is having the day after tomorrow.  This was very gracious.  You will go and you will behave and have a good time.  I already got you a gift and this is a great opportunity for you to learn more about your classmates.  Now eat your snack and let’s get to our work.”

Jenny whined, “Mom, I don’t want to go to a party.  I just want to rest around the house.  I am sick and tired of hanging around with all these kids all day.”

Mary got serious, “Being a teacher involves hanging around with kids all day.”

Jenny continued her whine, “It’s not the same.  I will be happy to be a teacher.  But, I have to talk to these kids all day and I have trouble because my interests are more advanced than theirs.”

Mary responded, “When you have a job or a change in environment, it is your responsibility to adapt and work to fit into the situation.  You are going to attend this school for the foreseeable future and we should figure out ways in which you can adjust some of your interests so that you fit in with your classmates and can feel more comfortable talking to them.”

Jenny was worried, “I’m not sure I want to share their interests.  It feels kind of juvenile.”

Mary reminded her, “If you hadn’t put yourself in this situation, then these changes would not be necessary.  This is your fault.  You need to adjust and fit in.  You are going to the party and you will have a good time.  I’ll be there the whole time.  Patty’s mom invited me to stay.  Parents often stay at parties for younger kids.”

Great thought Jenny.  Now, I need mom to hang around with me at a party.

Jenny asked, “What about Paul?  I wanted to spend some time with him.”

Mary looked at Jenny.  “Honey, Paul is going to tell you when he gets home.  But he will be out of town this weekend.  He has to go out of town tomorrow for training.  We’re going to have a nice dinner tonight and that way Paul can pack for his trip.  I’m sorry I had to be the one to break the news to you.”

Jenny couldn’t believe this.  Paul was going to leave town.  She would be stuck here alone.  Trapped in her school girl world with her mother-in-law.  She felt a sense of abandonment.  She found tears coming down her cheeks.  Suddenly, Mary bundled her into her arms and held her in a tight hug. 

Jenny was crying.  She couldn’t put her feelings into words.  She just let it out.  Mary rubbed her back and comforted her.

As Jenny regained control, Mary suggested she go to the bathroom and splash water on her face.  Then she needed to get her school work done so she could spend time with Paul tonight.

Without realizing it, Jenny ran to the bathroom so she could clean up her face and she rushed back.  She quickly opened her bag and dove into her work.  As she did this, Mary watched with satisfaction.  Jenny was hurrying around like any school girl wanting to get her homework done so she could spend time with Paul before his trip.  Mary was quite satisfied with how things were evolving.

Paul got off work early so he could prepare for his trip.  He arrived home as Jenny was finishing her homework.  Without thinking, Jenny jumped up from the table in her little girl’s school uniform and ran to Paul.  She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek and hugged him.  Paul smiled and hugged her back.  He had to admit that seeing a school girl running towards him put him a little off.  But when he remembered it was his Jennifer, he hugged her. 

Jenny whined, “I didn’t know you were leaving.”

Paul was caught off guard, “I just found out.  I told mom late last night.  It’s a great opportunity for me.  I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you myself.”  Paul was taken off balance because Jennifer had never given him the impression she would feel bad if he left for a few days.  In fact, he had assumed it would make no difference to her.  He smiled as he realized that she wanted him around and felt bad that he was going to be gone. 

Paul continued, “It’s Ok.  I’ll be back once the training is done.  But I have to fly out tomorrow morning.  What have you been doing this afternoon?”

Before she realized how childish it sounded, Jenny responded by detailing all of her individual homework assignments and how she had hurried to get everything done so they could spend time together and have a nice dinner.  Paul could never have imagined his wife in her previous job acting in this way.  It was almost juvenile.  The idea that she was reporting on practicing her letters and studying geography seemed incredible.  He shook his head and told her that was wonderful. 

The two of them moved into the family room to watch TV while waiting for dinner.  Mary got dinner on the table and called Jenny to set the table. 

Mary sat across from Paul in his business suit and Jennifer sat between them on the side of the table in her plaid school girl uniform.  Jennifer seemed totally unaware of how childish she looked.  She seemed unaware of the clear separation between herself and the adults.

After dinner, Mary told Jenny to clear the table and do the dishes while she made sure Paul had everything he needed for his trip.  Paul watched Jenny move to clear the table and went to his room to pack.  Mary went to the laundry and carried up Paul’s clothes to his room. 

Paul had the majority of his clothes packed by the time Jenny finished cleaning up the dishes.  He went down to the TV room and sat on the couch.  Paul was going through notes from his briefcase and watching the TV.  Jenny sat down next to him and just wanted to be near him.  Paul kept reading and Jenny got into the program on TV. 

Mary indicated it was getting late and everyone had an early day tomorrow.  She suggested that Jenny should get her bath done so Paul could then get himself cleaned up before bed.  Jenny complained for a minute and then hopped up and went to take her evening bath. 

Mary came in to the bathroom without knocking and grabbed Jenny’s clothes continuing to make clear that in her mind Jenny had no right to privacy.  She told Jenny she had bought a night shirt at the mall earlier today and would lay it out.  She laid out a pair of the juvenile panties and the nightshirt she had acquired while at the mall.  The shirt was pink and had butterflies and a teddy bear on it.  It was from the American Girl collection.  Mary was confident it would look perfect on her little grade schooler.

Jenny combed her hair and donned her underwear and the new night shirt.  She thought it looked a little juvenile.  But the butterflies were not age related.  She exited the bathroom as Paul went in. 

Jenny combed her hair and climbed into bed.  She turned off the ceiling light and left the night table light on.  She hoped that she and Paul might have an intimate moment this evening.  It seemed like lately they were ships passing in the night. 

Paul was taking a shower.  He was very concerned over how young his wife was looking in her clothing and now her night wear.  In fact, it scared him and did not turn him on.  Paul found himself stretching his shower out.  He took his time after his shower and spent a lot of time.  He put on his pajamas.

Jenny had been going to bed early every night and whether she wanted to admit it or not, this school adventure was draining on her mind.  She was lying in bed waiting for Paul.  As time went on she adjusted her position to get more comfortable.  Eventually the week caught up with her and Jenny drifted off into a well-earned sleep.

By the time Paul came out, Jenny was sleeping quietly.  As he climbed in bed, he looked at his wife. Her night shirt had pulled up and he could see her childish underwear.  In the back of his mind he knew it was his wife.  But he felt like he was climbing in bed with a child.  It felt creepy.  He lay in bed for 10 minutes and felt himself edging towards the side of the bed away from Jennifer.

Finally, he decided he was never going to get any sleep.  He grabbed a robe and quietly left the room.  He found his mother reading in the family room.  She looked up at him with a questioning look.  Paul plopped down in a chair shaking his head.

“Mom,” Paul began, “I think I’m going nuts.  I was in bed and I looked over at Jennifer and I know who she is.  But, the way she is acting and the way she is dressed.  I felt like I was climbing in bed with a child.  I know who she is.  But I just can’t share a bed with her tonight.”

Mary was secretly thrilled.  “Paul, you know there is a bed in my workroom.  I made it up before you guys moved back in.  Why don’t you sleep there?”

Paul agreed, “That way at least I can get some sleep.  I’m sure I’ll get over this by the time I get back.” 

Mary nodded, “If you still need the other room when you get back, it will still be there.  Jenny can use the room she is in.  I’ll move your things into the other room after you leave and she can have a little extra room while you are gone.”

Paul thanked his mom, “Thanks for all your help, mom.  I have a big day tomorrow.  I’m going to head off to bed.”

Mary was thrilled.  She could now separate the two.  This will allow her to customize Jenny’s room in a more age appropriate manner.  Jenny was going to school the majority of her day with 7 and 8 year olds.  Mary was confident Jenny’s room could be customized pretty easily. 

Mary spent the rest of the night making plans for her little girl.

Chapter 26

Friday morning, Jenny was awakened and started getting ready for school.  Mom told her Paul was already up and he would say goodbye to her at breakfast.  Jenny got her uniform on and brushed her hair.  She pulled her hairband on then she tied her shoes.  She bounded down the stairs to find Paul.

Paul was in the kitchen drinking his coffee and talking to his mother.  He was wearing his suit and he looked great.  Jenny ran right to Paul.  Paul took a step back.  Jenny ran right up and kissed him good morning.  “Good Morning”, she said.   I’m sorry I fell asleep before you got out of the shower.  I guess I was more tired than I realized.”

Paul stepped back indicating his hot coffee.  “Yeah, sorry I took so long.”

Mary directed Jenny, “Jenny, sit down and eat your breakfast.  The school bus will be here soon.”

Paul had been missing this morning ritual.  It was very disorienting for him.  It was like the twilight zone.  Reality seemed to be on holiday.  His wife was a grade schooler and he was an adult.  He felt he needed to get out of there.

Jenny quickly finished her breakfast.  Jenny gave Paul another kiss and wished him luck on his trip.  Paul’s mom handed her a child’s book bag and escorted her out of the house and to the bus stop.  Paul just stood there.  Then he grabbed his bags and headed out to the car.  As he was driving to the airport, Paul realized he did not tell Jennifer how long he would be gone.  Oh well, he thought, I’ll call and tell her or mom. 

Jenny meanwhile was arriving at school for her third day in her new demoted classrooms.  Patty greeted Jenny with excitement and told her how they would all be playing with their little friends.  Jenny had trouble following the activities she described.  Then Miss Annie announced that today they would be working on the letters “n o p q r s”. 

The girls worked on their letters together.  Miss Annie provided direction to all her children including Jennifer.  By the end of class, Miss Annie felt they were all making progress.  Later, Miss Annie wished everyone a good weekend and escorted them to the buses.  Patty said she would see Jenny tomorrow and the two parted.

Jenny was just happy to be done with the week.  Jenny got home and Mary fixed her a snack.  Like other days, Jenny didn’t rush to change clothes and simply sat down and talked with Mary about her day.  Mary told her she wanted Jenny to practice her letters tonight while they were all fresh in her mind.  Jenny thought it was a waste of time.   But, it was part of the routine and so she decided to get it over with. 

Jenny and Mary ate dinner and after Jenny cleaned up the dishes, the two of them watched an old movie on TV.  Jenny mentioned that she was going to miss Paul.  Mary said she understood and explained that Jenny would get through it better if she stayed with her routine and Paul would be back before she knew it. 

Jenny headed up to get ready for bed.  She donned clean underwear and her nightshirt.  Soon she was in bed looking at a book Mom gave her with pictures of places they were studying in geography. 

Jenny got to sleep in the next morning.  Mary woke Jenny up and told her to hop in the bath.  Mary gathered the clothing for Jenny.  When Jenny climbed out of the bath, Mary helped dry her off and sat her down in front of the mirror so she could comb and dry her hair.  Mary used a dryer and a brush to finish Jenny’s hair and she placed a pink ribbon as a hair band holding her hair back.  She topped the ribbon with a bow on top of her head.

Jenny thought it looked a little strange.  Mary told her to just go with her. 

Jenny donned a clean pair of underwear and a child’s camisole.  Mary pulled out some pink socks for Jenny and helped her put them on her feet.  Jenny was a little uncomfortable because she did not usually let people help her dress.  There was something strange clearly in the air. 

Mary then explained to Jenny that the girls were all supposed to bring one of their dolls with them to the party.  Jenny was uncomfortable.  She said, “I don’t have a doll.”

Mary responded, “Well I thought that might be a problem.  So, I got you a doll.”

Jenny looked at her.  “You got me a doll?”

Mary said, “I didn’t want you to feel out of place.  I’m trying to help.  Patty’s mother told me that several of the girls have these American Girl dolls.  So, I went to the mall and got you one that looks just like you.  Apparently that is what people do.”

Jenny was surprised, “You found a doll that looks like me and bought it so I could take it to the party?”

Mary said, “Yes.”

Jenny thought for a moment.  “That is really thoughtful, I guess.  Can I see the doll?”

Mary reached over to the bed and pulled the covers back to expose the doll. 

Jenny was stunned that the doll did seem to have a lot of similarities to her own look. 

Mary then pulled out the pink dress for the doll. 

Jenny asked, “Why do we need another dress?”

Mary explained, “Girls like to have multiple outfits so they can change the clothes of the dolls for different days or occasions.  But this new dress has another purpose.  Patty’s mom told me that one of the things that girls with the American Girl dolls can do is dress in similar outfits.  In fact Patty and her doll will be wearing matching outfits.”

Jenny was astounded, “Patty and her doll will be wearing similar outfits?”

Mary explained, “No honey, Patty and her doll will be wearing the same dress.  American Girl sells matching dresses so girls can have the same dress as their doll.”

Jenny said, “That is pretty out there.  You have to be committed.”

Mary said, “Well I was worried.  I didn’t want you to feel out of place.  And you don’t have any outfits that would look right at this kind of party.  When I bought the doll, I knew you needed an outfit.  So, I bought you and your doll matching outfits from the store.  I wanted to make sure you fit in at the party.”

Jenny was not sure what to think about this revelation.  She was going to wear a matching dress along with her new doll.  Weird.  She understood the desire.  But it was still weird.

Mary then jumped in and told Jenny they were running out of time.  Mary pulled out the dress and slipped it over Jenny’s head.  While Jenny was trying to look down at herself, Mary sat her in a chair and slipped the pink sandals on her feet.  She then handed the doll to Jenny and told her to get the dress off and redress the doll in the new outfit.  As Jenny finished fluffing the dress of her new doll, Mary took Jenny’s hand and slipped the matching pink bracelet on her wrist.

Jenny carried her doll carefully out to the car.  She held the doll close as she and Mary drove to the party.  Mary handed Jenny a wrapped present to carry along with her doll as they approached the door.

Mary stood a bit in front of Jenny.  Jenny was still a bit reluctant to go to the party and as they had approached the house, Mary wondered if Jenny might have a panic attack.  A woman answered the door and welcomed them into the house.  Mary ushered Jenny in front of her and they made their way down the entrance hall into the family room area.

As they came into the family area, Patty came running over squealing and hugged Jenny.  Jenny was trying not to lose control.  She handed Patty the present and said, “Happy Birthday.”

Mary made her way to the kitchen area and introduced herself.  Patty’s mom rushed over to welcome her.  “Hi, I’m Erin, Erin McLaughlin.  Welcome to our home.  Which one is yours?”

Mary introduced herself, “I’m Mary Martin.  I brought Jenny Martin.  That’s her over there.”  Mary pointed at Jenny who was talking to Patty and one of the other girls.

Erin stood there open mouthed staring at Jenny.

Mary asked, “Erin, is something wrong?”

Erin suddenly realized someone was talking to her.  “Pardon me?”

Mary repeated herself, “I asked if something was wrong.”

Erin gave an uncomfortable giggle, “It is going to sound crazy.  I used to work at this dot com company as a secretary and I had this tyrant of a boss.  Her name was Jennifer Martin.  I think I was just stunned when you told me that was your daughter’s name.  And what’s worse is your daughter looks like a younger version of her.  My god that woman was an ungrateful manager with absolutely no people skills.  I..I just need a few moments.”

Erin walked away to gather herself.  Mary looked over at little Jenny and started giggling to herself.  This situation was too good to be true.  Jenny was going to get her comeuppance.  That was assured now. 

Mary got her phone out and set it up to do some video.  She wanted to make sure to capture the moment when Jenny realized that the mother of her second grade friend used to work for her. 

Jenny and several other girls were introducing their dolls to each other.  Jenny had been momentarily stumped when they asked what her friend’s name was.  Jenny immediately thought of Paul.  Then they clarified they wanted to know her doll’s name.  However, still thinking of Paul she recovered and told them the doll’s name was Polly.  Soon the girls were sitting around the floor having a little tea party and they and their dolls were all talking.  Everyone was impressed that Patty and Jenny had dresses that matched their dolls.

Jenny was relieved that everyone thought the childish dress was Ok.  Several parents started gathering the girls around a table to sing Happy Birthday and have some cake.  As everyone was looking at the table, Jenny and several people were staring at the cake with its 8 big candles indicating Patty was turning eight years old.  But it was as the cake was put down by Patty’s mom that little Jenny suddenly took an enormous breath and started coughing and crying.  She ran from the table.  Mary got it all on video.

Mary followed Jenny to the bathroom and followed her in and closed the door.  Jenny was hyperventilating.  She was trying to tell Mary the problem.  Mary quieted her down and hugged her to her chest.  Finally, she got Jenny to whisper her explanation of the problem.  Jenny explained that the lady holding the cake had worked for her.  She couldn’t be seen here like this.  It would ruin her. 

Mary explained that she had already pointed Jenny out to Mrs. McLaughlin and she did not think she was the person she worked for.  She told her about Erin mentioning that she had the same name.  But she did not think the little girl at her party was the woman she worked for.  Mary told her that as long as she maintained her role as a student from Patty’s school, Erin would never be the wiser. 

She finally convinced Jenny that she had to go back to the party.

Mary explained to the other mothers that Jenny was just nervous since she didn’t know everyone and she let the excitement get to her.  Jenny for her part was a nervous wreck for the rest of the afternoon.  Eventually, she got into some of the activities.  In general, the girls had a fun party and soon everyone departed for home. 

During the party, Erin mentioned how much Patty really liked Jenny.  Erin and Mary agreed to set up some play dates so the girls could get together in a less stressful situation than a party.  Erin told Mary that there are always some kids that have strange reactions to parties and large groups of kids.

Mary told Jenny that they needed to take care of her party dress and change clothes.  Jenny was getting so used to Mary telling her what to wear that she just went along with it.  Mary pulled out a pair of pink cotton shorts and a simple pink t-shirt. 

Jenny changed and Mary hung up the dress in her closet.  Jenny was dressed before she wondered to herself where the t-shirt had come from.  Mary explained that she found it in some things she had around the house and figured it would fit Jenny.  And, Mary pointed out, she was right.  It did not occur to Jenny to ask why a mother of a single boy would have had old girls clothes lying around the house.  It also did not occur to her to look and see that the clothes were virtually new.

Mary observed that Jenny without make-up and wearing simple tennis shoes, could have been any little girl in town casually hanging around the house.  Jenny was just happy to be free of the dress and the little girls.  She plopped down in front of the TV and they watched some discovery channel shows.  Mary always liked the educational shows and Jenny just wanted to check out and not think. 

Mary and Jenny had a nice dinner and watched a Disney cartoon movie that Mary said she wanted to see.  She really just wanted to keep Jenny away from any adult TV.  They had popcorn and then they both went to bed.  Jenny protested when Mary put Polly in bed with her.  But, when Mary stuck her head in a little later, Jenny was sound asleep cuddling Polly.

While Mary realized that Jenny was presently the tallest second grader at the school, but not by much.  It was surprising to see that at the party she had not looked out of place. 

Chapter 27

On Sunday morning, Mary had breakfast going and she had again let Jenny sleep in.  She woke Jenny up and suggested that after she put on her robe and combed her hair, that she should probably run a brush through Polly’s hair before the two of them came down for breakfast.  Jenny just snorted and headed for the bathroom.

Therefore, Mary was surprised when Jenny wandered into the kitchen with Polly in her arms.  Mary pandered to the doll and made a constant fuss which Jenny thought was silly.  They both got caught up in it and soon they were having conversations which included the doll while they ate breakfast and cleaned up the dishes. 

Mary informed Jenny that they needed to do some chores around the house on Sunday and that Jenny needed to finish some reading from last week.  Jenny complained that she wanted to just vegetate and forget about the school.  Mary would have none of that.  Mary escorted Jenny to her room and pulling clean underwear and camisole from her dresser, she instructed Jenny to begin getting dressed.  Jenny reluctantly removed her nightshirt and underwear before putting on the clothing Mary selected.  Within moments, Jenny was wearing a childish purple t-shirt and yellow cotton shorts with Barney the purple dragon on them.  Jenny’s hair was pulled into a pony tail high on her head secured with a purple scrunchy.  Mary had seen similar outfits on 3 year olds who were still wearing diapers.  Of course, Jenny’s shorts were not bulging around bulky diapers, but Jenny looked totally juvenile.  There was nothing about her that said anything other than little kid.

They did laundry and changed all the beds.  Jenny got to vacuum and clean some windows.  Aside from a lunch break, they worked into the afternoon.  After a snack, Jenny sat down to do her reading while Mary folded and put away clean clothes.  Mary wanted to avoid Jenny reviewing her dresser drawers and closet for the time being. 

After dinner Mary and Jenny talked about some of Jenny’s concerns about school.  Jenny pointed out that she was obviously an adult sitting in a grade school class with little kids.  Mary reminded her that part of the reason for her to be in these classes was to not only learn some material but to understand the students.  Mary suggested that Jenny needed to try to assimilate with the class.  She should try to pretend to become just like all the other kids in her class.  Jenny asked how she thought she could accomplish that.  Mary suggested that Jenny should avoid having all the answers.  Also, Jenny needed to avoid alienating herself from her other classmates.  She needed to figure out what her friends were interested in and then she and Mary could ensure that Jenny learned as much as she could on those subjects.  Mary also thought Jenny should try to use simpler language.  She said Jenny had a much better vocabulary than her classmates and they probably didn’t understand some of the bigger words she might want to use.  Mary suggested that Jenny try to only use words that her friends at school used.  Jenny thought she could do that.  Mary was not convinced.  She believed that Jenny would constantly be pausing to try and figure out what to say instead of it coming naturally.  She told Jenny that Jenny should only use simple words like her classmates all the time, even at home.  That way Jenny would not seem unnatural or slip up.  Mary decided to implement an incentive program to ensure Jenny followed this rule.  She would give Jenny demerits for any big words.  She told Jenny she would then punish her if she received too many demerits.  Jenny was not comfortable with this proposal.  But, Mary insisted that it was needed and walked out of the room like it was a done deal.  Jenny thought they should revisit the subject later or tomorrow.

Mary left the room to avoid delving into what punishment she planned to use.  She went into the kitchen and got some milk and cookies.  She and Jenny had their snack and Jenny was sent to bed to get ready for her new week at school.  While the day had been full of work, Jenny was happy to have avoided all the little kids for at least one day.  She found herself slipping easily to sleep at her early bed time. 

After Jenny had slipped off to sleep, Mary fixed herself a nightcap and sat in her favorite wingback chair.  She thought back on the last couple of weeks.  She was quite satisfied with the regression of her daughter in-law from reckless technology entrepreneur to catholic grade school girl.  While Jenny was unhappy with her placement in a juvenile class where she spent most of her day with 7 and 8 year olds.  Jenny seemed unaware of the much more subtle changes she had accepted.  Jenny got up early each day and she quickly fell asleep when put to bed at her early bed time of 7:30 to 8 pm.  Jenny had not worn a bra or even asked about a bra in a couple of weeks.  Instead, Jenny donned her childish panties and matching juvenile camisoles from the children’s department.  Jenny had accepted that Mary selected her clothing and told her what to wear. 

She had taken Jenny to a birthday party for a second grader and not one of the women at the party questioned whether she was anything other than a tall second grader.  In fact, it now seemed that one of Jenny’s school mates was the daughter of a woman Jenny had terrorized at her dot com company.  Mary planned to get Jenny and Patty’s mom together again soon.  She felt confident any interaction with Patty’s mom would continue to sap away Jenny’s confidence and solidify her in her juvenile role.  A smile came to her face as she remembered Jenny cuddling with her new American Girl doll.

Mary smirked and laughed to herself as she considered her latest directions to begin limiting her young charge’s language to a more juvenile style of speaking.  She planned to limit Jenny’s use of large or complex words.  She wanted Jenny to adopt the speaking habits and the vocabulary of her second grade friends.  Since the children at this age were using phonetics to try and understand words, she thought Jenny needed to spend time each day learning how to use phonetics instead of the correct spelling for her words.  In this way her writing and speaking would devolve. 

Mary decided she would get a copy of the key words that the school was using and she would start spending time each evening helping Jenny learn how to spell words phonetically instead of how she now knew them.  With a little incentive, Jenny’s writing capability should decline to a more appropriate level.

Further, Mary planned to continue to keep Jenny off the internet, away from adult TV or the news, and keep her away from her phone.  She wanted to solidify Jenny as dependent on her and embed her in the role of a juvenile worried only about school, their friends and family.

Chapter 28

As Jenny was awakened by Mary, she released her clutching hug on Polly.  Mary helped Jenny get dressed and told her to brush her teeth and then get down to the kitchen with Polly. 

Jenny entered the kitchen and saw Polly's place at the table.  She placed the doll in her chair and sat down in her own.  Mary placed her breakfast in front of her and Jenny began to eat.  Mary asked how Polly had slept.  Jenny thought that was silly, but she responded that Polly had slept well.  They bantered about with several questions regarding Polly or Jenny.  Mary reminded Jenny to try to only use simple words and try to talk and fit in with the girls in her class.

Soon, Mary was handing Jenny her book bag and bustling her out the door to catch the school bus.  On the bus, one of the girls from Jenny’s class sat next to her.  The girl talked and asked questions non-stop.  Her hands were flitting about and her head and her facial expressions contributed to the topics they discussed.  Jenny tried to pay attention and see if she could sound a little like her friend. 

Jenny exited the bus and gathered with her second grade homeroom and began another day in her re-education.  In her writing class, the children were still practicing their letters.  Miss Annie assured them that by next week they might be able to connect letters into words.  However, Miss Annie was much more worried about how the letters looked and getting uniform and consistent letters in size and spacing. 

While Jenny started out believing these sessions were a waste of time, she had to admit that being forced to rewrite the same letters over and over again was causing her to change her writing style and at least at this point it appeared that her letters were actually better than when she started.  She had the thought that it might be fun when they could write real words.  This thought caused her to tell herself to get a grip. 

The teachers had the kids involved in activities and set short term goals for them to try to achieve.  The goals were designed to assure the kids usually got to the goals.  Therefore, the kids, were constantly looking forward to their next goal.  Jenny found herself settling into this same pattern and every once in a while she caught herself.  But as the days passed, she was more and more comfortable fitting into the group and she even began to feel some satisfaction with her small accomplishments. 

Every school day was a constant series of activity designed to teach the children, keep them involved, and use up some of their pent up energy.  Schools were designed that way.  Because of this constant barrage, Jenny found she had little time to think about anything other than school while at school.  Once home, Mary had adopted a regimented set of activities to keep Jenny on her toes and doing something until bed time.  Once in bed, Jenny was typically worn out and ready to simply give up to sleep. 

On Monday afternoon, Mary introduced her new phonetics lessons.  She wanted to help Jenny learn to spell her words phonetically.  Jenny thought this was a waste of time.  Mary explained that this was the mission of the school at this age.  She also explained that phonetics was something they used in the kindergarten and first grade.  Since Jenny had never had these types of lessons, Mary wanted to ensure that Jenny was comfortable with the phonetics.  Mary pointed out that Jenny surely did not want to go back further in school to learn the phonetics.

Thus began Mary’s self-planned lessons in how to spell words using phonetics instead of the actual spelling.  Jenny had always relied heavily on spell check on her computers and spelling was not her strongest area.  However, Mary’s plan was to teach Jenny the wrong way to spell many words.  Jenny did not realize this when they began. 

Mary began by explaining how phonetics uses certain letters for sounds.  For instance, cow might be spelled KOW.  For new spellers, phonetics provide a simple basis to allow the student to grasp and relate letters to the sounds.  There is some controversy because many of the spellings are completely wrong and the students have to learn the correct spelling at a later date.  Thus began lessons where Mary gave Jenny sounds and had her write down the letters to make those sounds.  The hard ‘K’ sound which might be a ‘C’ or a ‘K’ was always a K.  ‘Came’ might be ‘KAM’.  Trailing ‘e’ was ignored.  The ‘Y’ sound following a vowel was seldom included.  So, the vowel sound in the word ‘day’ might be only the letter ‘A’ resulting in day being ‘da’.  Double letters were single letters.  ‘W’ and ‘WH’ would often result in a ‘Y’. 

Mary spent over an hour explaining the relationships between these sounds and the phonetic spelling.  She then quizzed Jenny on the sounds and some simple words.  Whenever, Jenny and Mary were eating or sitting around, Mary would quiz her on the sounds.  Mary wanted to get Jenny to the point where her answers were second nature.  She did not give her time to think.  It was question then answer.  Within days, Mary hoped that Jenny’s spelling and her writing would begin to regress.  She was working to reprogram Jenny’s mind and eliminate years of learned spelling.  Since Jenny was a particularly bad speller to begin with, this was not as hard as it might have been with other students.

Jenny’s head was spinning by the time she was tucked in bed by Mary.  She found herself sitting in bed trying to remember the different letters for sounds instead of the way she had typically spelled things. 

After putting Jenny to bed, she observed that Jenny had not yet asked where Paul was or why he had not come home yet.  Jenny was obviously so busy with school that she had all but forgotten Paul. 

Days began to run together for Jenny.  Each day she went to school and each night, Mary worked to get her to finish her homework and then began to help Jenny unlearn her spelling.  By the end of the week, Jenny was truly looking forward to the weekend.

Mary and Erin had been talking on the phone and they thought it would be fun to get the girls together for a play date on Saturday.  Erin found herself distracted by her daughter’s new friend.  Just because she had the same name as her old boss.  And, she couldn’t help thinking she looked a like a younger version of Jennifer. 

By Friday evening, Jenny was answering Mary’s quiz questions much quicker.  Jenny was actually trying hard to meet Mary’s expectations.  Mary gave her a nice desert after dinner to celebrate their progress.  As she was tucking Polly and Jenny into bed, Mary informed Jenny that she had set up a play date with a couple of the girls in her class at a local park for Saturday.

Jenny did not want a play date.  She wanted to stay away from the kids except in school.  Mary emphasized the need for Jenny to assimilate and perform well at school.  She needed, Mary said, to build a real relationship with these girls.

Jenny worried about the play date as she lay in bed holding Polly.  Somehow, Mary was trying to make Polly a major portion of Jenny’s life.  Jenny found herself almost thinking of Polly as a real person sometimes.  Then of course she would kick herself.  But, she felt some comfort and fell asleep holding Polly.

Chapter 29

Jenny was dressed in another pair of childish cotton shorts and a cartoon t-shirt for her day at home.  Jenny asked Mary why she couldn’t wear something else.  Mary reminded her of the play date with Patty.

Saturday morning, Mary continued to quiz and re-educate Jenny on her new spelling patterns.  Jenny was associating sounds with a hard expectation on specific letters or simplistic solutions, most of which were not the way she used to spell.  Her answers were becoming more rote as she memorized the expected answers.  Jenny was so intent on trying to please Mary that she hardly realized the long term implications of learning how not to spell. 

After a quick lunch, Jenny and Polly were bundled into the car for a trip to the local park where they would meet Patty and a couple of other girls from their class.  Mary instructed Jenny to be a follower and do whatever her friends wanted to do.

The girls all squealed when they saw each other.  Jenny tried to get into the action and did a passable job.  They headed over to the jungle gym and climbed around and used the slides.  Later they were on the swings and played in the sand box.  After a quick snack supplied by Erin, Patty’s mom, the girls grabbed their dolls.  The girls discussed their doll’s clothing, and soon the dolls were speaking through their owners in a silly conversation which kept them all occupied while the mothers gossiped about the school and things in class. 

Erin mentioned again to Mary how much Jenny looked like her old boss.  Mary and she laughed about that.  Erin proceeded to unload about some of the reasons for her negative attitude towards her old boss.  Erin believed that the Jennifer who was her old boss was a poor manager who took risks which doomed their company to failure.  Erin thought her old boss was a self-centered bitch who treated the employees like slaves.  Erin also mentioned that Jennifer had a potty mouth and sometimes tried to imitate an old sailor with her gutter language. 

Mary assured Erin that she would do everything she could to ensure that little Jenny did not have a potty mouth when she got out of school.  She said, “I will wash her mouth out with soap and keep it there until she forgets how to speak such words if needed.  In fact, I hope that any parent would do the same if any of these little girls was to start down such a path.  Should my Jenny ever get out of line at your house, I know you will deal with it appropriately.”

In spite of her reluctance, Jenny found that if she just stopped asking herself why she was doing these things, she began having fun.  She just went with the flow and she was running around with the girls.  When the girls were playing with their dolls, Jenny tried to listen to what the girls were saying and tried to make sure her doll talked like their dolls.

The girls were clearly getting tired from their afternoon at the park.  The mothers felt the afternoon had been a success as the children would certainly be worn out at bedtime.  The mothers packed up the children and headed home. 

Jenny and Polly sat on the couch in front of the TV and Mary turned on the Princess Bride.   She explained that Jenny needed to be familiar with the things her friends were watching on TV.  Mary wanted to minimize Jenny’s reading in an attempt to minimize reinforcement of her old spelling knowledge.

Throughout the evening, as Mary prepared dinner and they ate, Mary continued to quiz Jenny on the phonetic patterns.  Jenny continued to answer as Mary wanted and she began to add new sounds or combinations of letters to introduce phonetically spelled words more consistent with the spelling of a regular 1^st or second grader just learning to use their letters. 

When Jenny became frustrated, Mary assured her these lessons would be helpful at the point Jenny began her teaching duties. 

Sunday was again a cleaning day.  Jenny found herself out in the yard raking leaves and helping to pick up trash and yard waste.  During lunch and their work breaks, Mary continued to quiz Jenny.  In the late afternoon, Mary decided that she and Jenny should go for a walk.  They ended up taking a walk for about three and a half miles which took about an hour and a half.  Jenny in her childish clothes made dirty from working in the yard looked like any other little girl. The walk wore both of them out.  After a quiet dinner, Jenny and Mary watched a couple of kids shows on the TV and then Jenny was off to bed. 

Jenny was surprised by how tired she was.  After bathing, Jenny donned clean underwear and a clean Barbie nightshirt Mary had laid out for her.  Jenny grabbed Polly and climbed on the bed.  Mary tucked them in and soon Jenny was sound asleep. 

Mary realized that even though Jenny was physically older than her peers at school, an appropriate amount of outside activity would help wear Jenny down and get her to fall asleep at an appropriate time.  In that way, she was just like her little friends.  Mary decided to continue to include physical activity in Jenny’s day to day life to keep her energy drained and keep her a well-behaved second grade student. 

Chapter 30

Monday morning and Jenny was in the groove.  When Mary woke her up, Jenny quickly completed her morning ritual in the bathroom.  She returned to her room and donned the juvenile underwear and her grade school uniform.  She pulled her hair back with the school headband and put on her school shoes.

Mary had made sure there was no makeup in Jenny’s room.  There were no enhanced hair products.  Jenny’s hair was always clean and well kept.  But, Jenny’s hair did not have the life, shine or body that it had when she used conditioners and specialized shampoos. 

Mary was concerned that if Jenny’s hair regrew on her legs and in more private areas that it might be a darker color which could destroy some of the childish image she was hoping to construct for her young charge.  She would investigate alternatives for this while Jenny was at school.

After her breakfast and her morning vitamin which Mary had added to their morning ritual, Jenny put on her coat and her school bag before she and mom walked to the school bus.

Jenny’s school days had fallen into a pattern.  She was kept busy and given little time to think or ponder anything other than her school work or her friend’s constant banter during breaks. 

Monday evening, during dinner, Mary informed Jenny that she was very proud of everything Jenny had done to try to assimilate into her role at school.  Because of this, Mary wanted to reward Jenny.  She said that she knew how annoying it was to be bothered by constantly having to shave your legs.  Therefore, Mary had purchased Jenny a round of laser hair removal. 

Jenny thought that was great.  She always hated shaving.  She mentioned that she also hated shaving her underarms even though it was a simple task.  Mary agreed.  Mary told her they would visit the laser company tomorrow after school. 

Mary had called and arranged for an appointment at a local laser salon.  She filled all of the paperwork out and sent it in.  She informed them that her daughter attended the local catholic school and she wanted this to be a present.  The salon was happy to oblige as long as the correct paperwork was signed off.

Chapter 31

On Tuesday, after school, Mary substituted a simple colored hair scrunchy for the school headband and they left Jenny’s school bag at home.  At the salon, the techs expected a girl from the catholic school and she was wearing the uniform.  They simply assumed she was an older student.  The salon utilized a sedation process to minimize pain when large areas were being worked on.  They provided a pill and had Jenny and Mary sit in a waiting are while the pill worked.  Eventually, Jenny was led into a room and told to disrobe.  Mary helped her fold her clothes.  Jenny laid on the table and covered with a sheet.  The women technicians entered and began the process.  Mary had added Jenny's underarms to the purchase and so the technicians had a lot of work.  While Jenny would have to come back for some follow-ups, they assured her mom that she would have no hair below the waist or on her underarms. 

Mary was satisfied that Jenny would maintain that little girl look.  Jenny seemed happy she would not have to shave without realizing the visual impact of no hair.  In addition, Jenny was not really clear or aware that the procedure had included her full pubic area.  She had been shaving down there to maintain her image.  But it would not be necessary anymore. 

In writing class, Jenny started to develop a consistent flowing handwriting for individual letters.  Miss Annie had them stringing letters together.  There were no actual words involved.  The purpose was to see how the different letters flowed into one another.  Miss Annie had recently complimented her on the clarity and nice visual her handwriting was developing.  Miss Annie promised her they would start using real words soon. 

Chapter 32

Wednesday was an early release day at school which meant classes got out at 12:30 instead of the regular time.  Patty’s mom, Erin, called and asked Mary if Jenny could come over to play for a few hours right after school let out.  After Mary agreed, Erin said she would pick Patty and Jenny up from school on Wednesday and Mary could pick her up at around 4:00. 

On Wednesday morning, as she walked Jenny to the bus, Mary informed Jenny that she would be going to her friend Patty’s house after early release.  Mary assured her everything was okay and she would pick her up later in the afternoon.

Jenny stared at Mary as the school bus pulled up.  “You scheduled a play date for me? Why can’t I just come home?”

Mary smiled reassuringly and patted her on the back.  Mary turned Jenny around and urged her towards the bus door.

Jenny wanted to argue, but Mary just pressed onward until Jenny was on the steps of the bus.  Mary was smiling and waving as the door closed and Jenny began another trip to school.

After school, Jenny was told to go with Patty and that Patty’s mother would be picking them up at the car pickup area. 

Jenny and Patty climbed into the back seat of Erin’s car.  Patty’s mom was very bubbly and she welcomed Jenny and promised they would all have fun.  Patty just stared at the reflection of Erin’s face in the mirror and wondered what would happen if Erin ever figured out who she really was.  Erin kept looking back at Jenny and reflecting on how much she looked like a younger version of her old boss.

Patty started talking to Jenny and asking questions. Jenny answered her and the two of them were in a constant banter until they reached Patty’s house.

Patty took Jenny up to her room and showed her all of her dolls and toys.  They played with her doll house for a little while.  They were interrupted when Patty’s mom called them down to the kitchen for a snack.

With Jenny’s constant interaction with 2^nd graders and her “practice” at home only using simple words, the girls’ conversation sounded like any other pair of little girls playing together.  Jenny did not realize how much her linguistic skills had already deteriorated in the last few weeks. 

After their snack, Erin pushed the girls out into the back yard to play on the swing-set.  Patty suggested they use the slide.  Reluctantly Jenny joined in climbing the short ladder and riding the slide down. 

Erin watched the two girls from the door and was happy that Patty had a nice new friend. 

On the third time down the slide, Patty gave Jenny a push before she was fully on the slide.  Jenny went down the slide backwards and landed on her butt. 

Temporarily caught off guard and not thinking of anything but her displeasure she yelled, “God Dammit, don’t push me till I’m ready.”

Patty’s eyes got large and she started to cry.  Jenny was just standing up and brushing dirt off of her school uniform when she felt herself grabbed from behind.  “Again not thinking, she said, “What the hell?”

It was at that moment, Jenny realized Patty was not crying because of what she said. She was crying because she saw her mother with rage in her eyes.

Erin grabbed Jenny and pulled her over to a nearby yard chair.  As she plunked down in her seat, Jenny was whisked off her legs and placed face down on her lap.  Jenny was still trying to comprehend what was happening when the first blow landed. 

Following the first blow, Erin flipped the school skirt up onto Jenny's back.  At that point, Erin was a woman on a mission.  She tattooed Jenny’s derriere with hard spanks.

Jenny simply cried out, “Wait, It was … Ow…It was a  … Ow … Mistake…”

Erin stated, “Oh it was a mistake alright.”  Erin picked up the pace.

Jenny was crying already.  She got in a “stop” or an “ow” but soon she was a blubbering mess. 

Erin suddenly realized that while she was upset at the language, she was taking her stored up anger against her old boss out on a little girl. 

Erin paused.  She said, “No little girl in my house will ever use such language.” Followed by a well-placed spank.  “Do you understand young lady?”

By now Jenny would agree to almost anything to end this humiliation.  Here she was in a grade school uniform with her classmate and she had said the wrong things.  Her mind was getting twisted around.  She was beginning to wonder if she was really just a 2^nd grader who was being punished.  Because at that moment in time that was exactly who she thought she was. 

Jenny responded between sobs, “Yes, Mam.  I will not use bad words.”

Erin asked, “What else do you have to say?” 

Jenny was still having trouble gaining full control of her words.  She was just crying and she babbled, “I..I..I’m sowwy for saying bad words and yelling at Patty.”

Erin lifted Jenny off her lap and pulled her into the kitchen. 

Jenny was starting to get her breathing under control and they approached the sink.  Erin turned to Jenny and said, “The final thing we have to do is wash those words out of your system.” 

With that Erin grabbed a big bar of ivory soap from the sink and wet it down.  She then shoved it into Jenny’s mouth.  Jenny's eyes went wide.  Erin held the top of Jenny's head and lifter her chin to force her to bite into the bar of soap. 

Jenny was crying again.  Erin walked her over to a corner and turned her to face the corner.  “You can just stare at the wall, suck on the soap and maybe we can get all those bad words out of your system.  I’ll be back in a few minutes.  Don’t move!”

Erin guided Patty who had observed all this into the family room and turned on the TV. 

Erin explained that as they had talked about in the past, no one was to use such words at their house.  Also, she assured her daughter, no little girl or even an adult should talk to people in this manner.  Patty said she understood and stared at the TV worried about her friend and oblivious to the show that was on.

Jenny continued whimpering in the corner.  Her thoughts were asking herself why she had acted wrong.  Why had she used bad words?  She was worried about hurting her friendship with Patty.  Patty was her only real friend at school.  They did everything together.  What was mom going to say when she found out?  

By the time Erin came back over, Jenny's thoughts and her mindset were the same as any other 2^nd grader who had been punished.  Erin guided her to the sink and removed the soap.  She allowed Jenny to rinse her mouth out and used a soft rag to dry Jenny’s face and clean her up a little.

Throughout this cleanup, Erin tried to sooth Jenny and assured her that Jenny needed to be a good girl and not ever use language like that ever again.  Jenny promised she would be good and ty never to say those bad words again. 

Erin told Jenny and Patty they could go up to Patty’s room and play.  Patty felt bad about the punishment. Jenny told her it was not her fault.  Jenny was uncomfortable sitting down due to her spanking and so they played with the dollhouse some more. 

Mary arrived at the house and knocked.  Erin welcomed her and told her the girls were upstairs playing.  Erin told Mary she needed to discuss something with her.  The two of them made their way to the kitchen where Erin poured them each a cup of coffee. 

Erin explained the events and punishment.  Mary was stunned but assured Erin that she did nothing wrong.  In fact, as they had discussed before, Mary believed a strong hand was needed to get these types of problems under control at a young age.  Mary told Erin she was not sure where Jenny had heard those terms but wondered if some of her older son's friends might have used foul language when Mary was not around. 

Eventually, Mary gathered up Jenny and her school things and they headed home.  Mary smiled when it was clear that Jenny was uncomfortable sitting in the car. 

Mary was constantly wondering how all the events in Jenny's life were effecting her personal view of herself and her situation.  She wondered if Jenny thought of herself as an adult caught in a bad situation or whether she might eventually simply accept that she was back in school.  Tonight, she noted, Jenny looked like a contrite little girl who had been well disciplined and was worn out from a day of playing with her little friend. 

Mary explained that Erin had told her about the afternoons events.  Unexpectedly, Jenny started crying and apologizing to Mary.  She said she was sorry and that she would try not to use bad words ever again.  Mary consoled the person in her arms who showed no signs of being anything other than a 2^nd grader trying to get her parents approval and love. 

Mary pushed Jenny to take an early bath and got her in bed early.  Jenny did not fight her and was asleep in minutes after her light was turned out.  Mary looked at Jenny clutching her doll and sleeping soundly. 

Mary realized that today's events took a chink out of Jenny's character and her adult persona.  She wondered what other things she could do to further trap this young lady in her grade school world.  She reminded herself that she was doing this for her son.  Paul’s happiness was very important and Jenny needed to be leashed and tamed.  She smiled to herself as she concluded that they were on their way to a good long term solution. 

As Mary continued to ponder these thoughts she was also aware that while she felt that Jennifer the adult was someone she did not particularly care for, she was developing strong feelings for the little girl Jenny was becoming.  Mary had not had a daughter.  Her maternal skills and desires had been hidden away for a number of years now.  With Paul out of the house she often felt she had no direction or real purpose.  Jenny gave her purpose.  Mary had to make sure things were done for Jenny.  She began to understand that taking care of Jenny made her feel good. 

Mary had a reason to get up every day.  She had to plan things and ensure that everything she had planned for herself and little Jenny occurred as planned and on schedule.  It gave her life a real purpose.  A grade school student needed an adult to manage their life and ensure that everything worked out. 

While there was a mission here, maybe Mary could get some personal fulfillment out of all this. 

And with Jenny only in 2^nd grade, Mary might be able to maximize her personal fulfillment for years to come.  And Mary thought, if Jenny changes her ways and grows up right, Mary would be proud of all of her work when Jenny graduates.