School – Page 4 – Melrose Mom-ing

Another great day

For #1 Son.

I was more than a little surprised when I read his daily report sheet* yesterday and it was glowing, yet he did not have a REACH star sticker, but I shrugged it off.

But our lovely J handed me one this morning that he must have peeled off of his t-shirt.

So I have recorded it in our “Folder of Awesome”

He has six now, which is one per month, with two scored in October and two already for this month – IN ONE WEEK!!!!

I could just burst with pride and happy. I know we are nowhere near the end of the war, but for now at least, it feels like we are winning.

*His teacher created a daily checklist of his academic centres and puts stickers on the ones he completes. She also writes me a daily report of good and bad – did I mention the woman is a saint?

Our week

But not in pictures.

It was pretty normal up until Thursday.

On Wednesday I went up to my yarn shop to their “Sit ‘N Knit” class – which is $7 per session and you can pay in blocks but as the current block finishes in three weeks, I’m paying the instalments until then, then I will buy the block.

It’s been lovely to hang out with like-minded ladies. I’m hoping they will teach me the Continental style.

Now, on to Thursday.

#1 Son has been pretty stable at school for the last few weeks. His days average around 50:50 with some escapes out of the classroom but usually only into another kindergarten classroom.

Which does make me feel a little sorry for the other teachers. But they don’t seem to mind too much.

The overall actual classwork amount he completes varies day to day. But he is at least managing some per day. Although I can’t shake the feeling that he is starting to lose the advantage he had from a year in reception class.

However I think I got cocky. I was starting to feel that just maybe he was settling down. Thursday put the kibosh on that one a bit.

I missed a phone call from the school at roughly 11 o’clock. That will teach me to change the Tiny Tyrant’s nappies!!!

They then rang the husband creature who texted me in a bit of a flap. Actually that is unkind of me, as he was really very calm and controlled. (This normally doesn’t herald anything good).

The school were ringing to tell us that #1 Son had escaped out of his classroom and actually managed to escape out of the school. This has been something they have feared since he started playing this particular little trick.

They didn’t have a choice and this time had to call the police to go and find him. They apparently allowed one of the paras (which seems to be the equivalent of a teaching assistant) go with the police so that he had a familiar face. Which was a good thing as the whole “stranger danger” conversation is not one we had really been focusing on because of his tendency to focus on the exact opposite point of the conversation.

This has now been rectified.

With some urgency!!!

It was all hands on deck. Daddy raced home from work and I called the lovely J for a lift to school to collect him.

Gave TT a chance to model her new coat which is for three year olds:

So we got him home. School were apologetic and we would “start again tomorrow”

I rained hell fire on him without shouting. I never thought I could do that but it is possible.

I also docked his allowance. Which he was more upset about than losing screen privileges. (Which also happened)

It’s not been a fun day, and I am then dreading parent-teacher conference but onwards and upwards.

Friday was much better. I had to pick him up from school so as he had a very good day, we went for ice cream.

After ice cream we went to the park.

TT decided that swinging for an extended period (rather than < 30 seconds) was fun and #1 Son was playing appropriately!!!

I did find myself saying “I don’t care what the other little boy is doing, he is not my son” when I caught #1 Son trying to climb up onto the roof of a playhouse to copy one of his new little friends, and was outraged that I wouldn’t let him follow suit.

And, perhaps most importantly, we met another little boy and his older brother, who is also on the spectrum. There was only a day’s difference in their ages too.

Although he seemed further along the spectrum, they played together so nicely. Both boys played with both #1 Son and TT, and I had a lovely chat with a mom who “got it” and could advise me on Stateside services.

I’m hoping that we might catch up with them this Friday too.

A day unlucky for some

But not for us.

For today Friday the 13th October 2017 we have sold our house.

Yes that bloody Millstone that was hung around our neck’s since April yes, April finally belongs to someone else!!!!

I mean okay we have not yet actually received the funds from the sale yet. No more dealing with shitty conveyancers!!!

Please excuse me while I do a little dance in celebration. It might even be the squirmy happy puppy dance. (Which I’ve not done since I left the office).

We can buy a car!!!!!

#1 Son also had an excellent day.

He received today’s REACH Star For doing his writing work without complaint and generally being awesome.

Yes I know the shirt is too small he insisted on wearing it and quite frankly I’m not sure I’m going to bother washing it before getting rid of it.

(Ok that’s a lie, but it was fun to consider however briefly 😂🤣)

Got to speak to his teacher today because our lovely J was unable to pick him up from school due to a previous appointment. And the lovely teacher confirmed that he has improved greatly, and she is very very pleased with him.

Yes we got our normal ice cream. Yes both children were a giant mess at the end of it. They had fun. I’ve even bought some very expensive oatmeal pouches to try and tempt TT into actually eating breakfast. Standby for the results on that one dear audience.

Oh and before I forget my wonderful boy and I had a conversation about Christmas. He was explaining to me how it was very important that J, her partner, and her two children, (and especially the baby) should have Christmas presents from us this year.

(It was hilarious that he referred to J’s partner as her dad because he knew him to be the baby’s dad. I did explain)

😂🤣😂

I forgot how literal a child’s view of the world can be.

But the best part of this conversation was the discussion about him giving the baby his toys and perhaps most importantly a previous favourite toy. He explained to me how he felt it was important that toys that were less favourite should go to other children.

No I’m not crying you’re crying. Or maybe someone is cutting onions in here. Just proves what a wonderful sweet boy he really is. And finally on the way home he asked to go to the park unfortunately his sister had other ideas (in the nappy area) so we played outside once we got home. Our lovely downstairs neighbour H said that we were able to use her grandson’s outside toys as and when.

So I managed to capture this:

See Saw

They can be so gosh darned cute when they want.

💕💕💕💕💕💕

School Update

Well since I’ve ranted here, I feel I should also twirl with excitement.

We are seeing improvements!!!!!!

He’s had over a week of decent days, and at least one excellent one. Two that his teacher has termed awesome.

He has done work.
He has used words when upset.
He has told a teacher before leaving the classroom

And

He is leaving the classroom less

I could just burst with pride I really could.

He’s also undertaking homework with me with minimal fuss and getting it done.

I am so proud of my boy.

Here is his school picture, which is, quite frankly, his best ever:

Oh, and he wrote a book today at school (Well he illustrated it and dictated the words to his teacher, who was his willing transcriber) and wanted us to read it to him at bedtime.

We of course obliged.

💕💗💕💗💕💗💕💗💕💗💕💗💕💗

The remainder of our week

So, it didn’t start out very well. But, #1 son improved tremendously by the end.

This was his journal entry from his teacher I was ecstatic.

He has actively engaged with school work which is a miracle!!!

Today is a public holiday (Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day) and we were going to go to the zoo, but the weather is awful for that, so after TT wakes up from her nap, we will head off to Lego Land instead.

It’s a fun couple of hours for both kids.

TT? Meh, not so good. She managed to destroy a treasured memory from our very first trip to Paris, but the hus-creature believes he can arrange for a restoration.

She also trapped her foot in a tight metal space, is hitting a lot, and just generally working my last nerves.

Her speech has come on amazingly, and she can get her own trousers on, so it’s probably a leap, coupled with boundary pushing Terrible Two-ness.

Butter wouldn’t melt right?

I have signed up for a two-day class on learning magic loop and sock knitting which I am so looking forward to.

$65 bucks for 4 hours 1:1 with other local yarny folks? Bargain!

The week so far

Has been… testing.

Yesterday was an okay-ish day at school for #1 Son, but the afternoon and evening at home with me were not.

We had a disagreement which escalated through miscommunication (and a hefty dose of TT distraction) and ended with him hiding and having a full meltdown.

It was hard and painful and upsetting for us both. I ended up sobbing (but I made darn sure he did not see – he doesn’t need that on top of everything else)

It’s hard when your baby tells you he doesn’t want to love you anymore.

Today, not great at school (I now get emails from his teacher when she feels an update warranted). We have however received notification of the first meeting (I’m not optimistic enough to believe it will be the only one) of Special Educational Need provision – 05 December.

That seems a long time away, but it does give us time to see the doctors and get that side of the process going too.

I finished his room:

Well mostly, the remaining boxes contain games, DVDs or garage stuff so won’t be unpacked until our final storage solutions are in place. But not bad for a day’s work.

They are capable of playing with each other without killing each other occasionally:

Sadly, the idea of putting TT into nursery one day a week has had to be put on hold for the foreseeable.

🙁🙁🙁🙁

The only practical nursery setting a. only allows for a minimum 2 days per week and b. is fully booked and has a waiting list stretching to next summer! 🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀

While this is incredibly disheartening, it also gives me an idea of our realistic options, so I plan to get her on the waiting list as soon as my work permit is granted.

I won’t be looking for a job until #1 Son is more settled. I cannot add more stress to him right now and that level of change could be disastrous for him at themoment.

Our week

Actually improved significantly.

He was not sent home from school again.

Wednesday he decided to start practicing his makeup artistry skills:

Apparently it’s just amazing what you can do with markers these days dahlink 😂🤣

And on Thursday he had a brilliant day:

I was (and am) so darn proud. He says he earned it for being great at lunchtime, which is a trigger point for him.

Apparently he felt that Friday went less well, and he did leave his class a few times without telling the teacher. But he is apparently building a hideaway of some kind in the classroom next door which is helping so it’s a work in progress.

Thursday was also the Fall Gathering for parents of Kindergarteners and parents of children new to Melrose.

So we fit on both counts.

I even tried to not embarrass my kids by dressing up a wee bit:

I was informed by my daughter that it was “pitty” even though there is a distinct lack of cats or unicorns 😂🤣

There was pizza and games and loads of his classmates. It was really fun.

TT made friends, danced a lot and gave me a heart attack. I kept an eye on her constantly, but I turned around to answer a question and she was gone – she had headed over to the pizza table in a blink of an eye. Panic didn’t cover it!!!

#1 Son had fun, though did get a bit overwhelmed.

They even played together a little:

In TT news, she turned 21 months yesterday and prior to this immense milestone has learned to jump properly, can identify the colour yellow and did her first ever poo on the potty.

She’s growing up.