Ugly.

It's been an ugly day. Challenge after challenge.
It started with getting on the bus this morning. I have been working with Mallory on walking to the bus from our deck each morning. This morning she decided to throw her bookbag in the yard and sit on the sidewalk. When I finally managed to get her to stand up, she spit at me and walked defiantly to the bus. What a way to start the day.
For lunch, I met Mallory and her case manager at La Fiesta. Mallory had earned 7 stars for staying dry in her pull-up at school (1 star for each day). Her reward was lunch with mom. When I arrived, Mallory came a running. She smiled big and gave me a big hug. (Melted my heart!) We had a seat and ordered our food. The wait was unbearable for Mallory. The more she anticipated her food coming the more agitated she became. She kept wanting to drink her 16oz chocolate milk (that's the smallest that they come) in nervous anticipation. When our food arrived she practically inhaled it. But anyway the rest of the meal was pretty uneventful.
After work, I picked up Matt and Mallory, then headed to pick up Hannah at dance class. Mallory did wonderfully waiting the 5 minutes for Hannah to finish. I was so proud of her. But, when we left dance class to head to the van, Mallory start in with another tantrum. She smacked the lady that we walked by (thankfully, she knew Mallory from school). Mallory then proceeded to throw herself on the sidewalk, kicking her feet, and screaming. I scooped her up and rushed to the van as quickly as I could. I wanted to save all the other mother's from the sight. I was mortified. We went from such a nice moment inside the dance studio to a very ugly moment when we stepped out the door. No precursor. No warning. What fun!
On Monday nights, Mallory's personal attendant does not arrive till 6. Once she arrived, Mallory became defiant. We have been working on transitioning Mallory better when both of us (me and the PA) are in the house. We've not had very good luck.
Needless to say, it's been a crazy day!