Just a quick share, I've been dressed for the gym for an hour now so maybe I should actually get there, lol. But, this morning, I watched Jacob get on the bus and I smiled. Last year, when he would get on the bus, I would watch his anxiety go through the roof, he would tense up, and it seemed as if he was taking a deep breath and holding it allll daayy looonngg. When he would get off the bus in the afternoon, all of that pent up energy came flying out, straight at us and the evenings were rough. Now, after changing doctors, meds, and many meetings with teachers, I watch him happily get on the bus and happily get off. What a difference. I am hoping that that was our hardest transition (from Elem to Intermediate), especially since he transitions again next year from Int to Middle school. Hopefully everything we learned from this past transition will help with the future transitions.
Luckily, I am on a committee for the district, Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, and our biggest goal this year was to work on just that, transitions. We sent out a survey to all special education parents in the district and got enough responses to help make new goals. (On a side note, it always amazes me how people will complain all day long about something in a school district, but when your opinion is asked in order to help make changes, barely anyone has anything to say. This is an interesting phenomena to me, a human behavior thing. I'm always intrigued by human behavior things. But I digress....) So I'm hoping that I can use everything I've learned to make all of the rest of Jacob's transitions as smooth as possible, he has 3 more before he graduates...
He did decide last week that he did not want to do Teen Club anymore. We were pulling out of the driveway to take him, and I looked over and saw his anxiety was way up. He tenses up, and wrings his hands, and I know that look on his face all too well. The good thing is, his anxiety is so much better than it was that I can see it instantly, and know exactly what is causing it. When he is constantly anxiety ridden, it's hard to tell the cause. So I stopped the car, and asked him if he wanted to go. He said he didn't know, so I explained to him that this was for him, not me, and that it was supposed to be fun and something he looked forward to. But if it was not fun, but stressful, then he didn't have to go. So we decided to stay and cancel for this session. I will say, it is a big group in numbers, like 15-20, and there are some pretty big, loud teens there. Some have more disabilities than others, but it is all a bit overwhelming for Jacob. I get that.
So things are going well! School is a little crazy for me right now, 3 classes is a lot, but I'm moving right along. We did also start to remodel our master bathroom, what a mess that is. Tile is done, and the guys painted last week, but the blue I picked is awful. For that room anyways. So waiting on cabinet guy to get on building, and painters to come back and repaint a different color. Then countertops, plumber, and electrician. Hoping that gets done soon. Also told the Director of Special Programs for the district (she's head of the committee I'm on, and I love working with her!) that I'm interested in teaching again in the Fall. We'll see how that goes... I'll keep you posted!
Quick funny.... we were driving through the bank the other day and a guy had his work van blocking one of the bays. Jacob asked why that one was closed. I looked over to see a gentleman walking past my car to his, apparently working on something, so I said as much. Ryan says from the back seat, "Yeah, and he's trying to look all sexy." Whawha?
xo,
H
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