This is Waif yesterday as we walked home from lunch at the pub, she, engrossed in a book (the sequel to Chocolat by Joanne Harris)
On 18 May Waif came in at 41.3kg on our super duper scales. Today she is 43.9kg :-) :-) She was wearing a belt today so, allowing for that, that represents a gain of 2.5kg in about 6 or 7 weeks. I am happy with that. Waif is happy with that.
Meanwhile, Older Daughter went for a check up last week and the nurse told her that at a BMI of 18.3, she should under no circumstances lose any weight. Waif takes this as incontrovertible proof that we are a "light family". I take it as a sign that OD should try to gain some pounds before she goes off to board in September where the choice and quality of food might not be as tailored to her likes (steak and chips mainly).
At the weekend, we went to a family party and stayed at a local hotel. Waif and I went for an early morning run along the Thames in the beautiful sunshine that has set in of late, followed by a refreshing dip - in the pool, not the river! Part of Waif's recovery is that we are not all spending every waking moment worrying about what and whether she is eating and we can begin to relax and enjoy family life once more. Caveat: I know, no complacency, after all she is still in the anorexic weight range and may still be at Wednesday's weigh-in at the Maudsley as I swear she has grown another inch - I now have to wear heels to match her height.
Oh, Waif has won 4 subject prizes at school (there is one per subject per year) wth prize giving this Wednesday evening (hmmmm...after a Maudsley visit in the afternoon). I am minded to go and ask the Headmaster for an honorary scholarship. Sigh, I had always thought of Waif as my less academic daughter. Hmmm...she took longer to learn to speak than OD, and to be grammatically perfect, but her hard work more than makes up for it. Yes, her perfectionism is also a worry to me. My family all tell me that that is exactly how I was at her age. I suspect it is true. On the one hand it presents a problem: I do NOT want Waif to be always striving for fear of failure, and completely agree with the commenter who pointed out that perfectionism is simply not achievable at GCSE, where there is an enormous volume of work, and will inevitably lead to incredible stress and fatigue. On the other hand, academic success at school sets one up for the rest of one's life: entry to a top university opens many, many doors forever in career terms and gives one options. I don't want to squash Waif's achievements but do want her to know that she is valued even more highly for simply being her loving, kind self and that I would love her, we all would love her, just as much if she was bottom of the class. Yet I still confess to being extraordinarily proud of her success.
Oh, and this is Waif last Friday evening, when we had a picnic in the park with some friends WHO HAD A BADMINTON SET :-)
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