The second installment from guest blogger Susie Chubbuck:

A moment of clarity is not always a pleasant experience; as a matter of fact, it can be downright unpleasant, but at that exact moment in time, you know something so much clearer than before.

As a Hyde School staff member, I am aware that the Hyde process starts with an interview. This was my family’s next step since we decided to give this venture a try. My husband and I were a bit nervous and my son was as well (though he didn’t let us know it at the time). I did approach a few co-workers at Hyde to see if they could give me some insight on the whole interview process, but I got nothing, absolutely nothing that I could use to prepare my family for the interview.

I can see now why the interview is not something that could be explained very well. Every interview is unique to the family and their situation.

The person doing the interview asks some very good questions, first of the student to get some basic facts down, what’s going right, what’s going wrong, etc…. then a few strategic questions to each parent to see where they are, both from their point of view and the student’s as well.

The interview seemed to be going well, I guess, until at one point, the question directed to me was “If you take away work and your children, what do you do for just you?” I surely did open my mouth, but nothing came out. If I were going to be completely honest, I couldn’t come up with a single thing that I did just for me. I have a great job which I take a lot of pride in, and my life revolves around my children so cooking, cleaning, being a mom, taxi, etc…. was what I came up with. But that was not what the question asked. So, I grew a bit uncomfortable and found myself in a bit of a snit. After it was obvious that I was not coming up with an answer anytime soon, the interview process moved on. But, that question was first and foremost in my mind. Was that true? Did I really do nothing JUST for me? How had that happened? And this was my moment of clarity! Not a pleasant moment, but a moment none the less.

We did end up being accepted by Hyde School which is both a feeling of “great help has arrived” and a feeling of “shoot, this is now out of my hands.” We, as a family, had made a decision together that this was a journey we all needed to make and no matter the consequences, we all needed the experience that Hyde School has and provides to other parents and students every day. And so our journey truly begins.