Welcome Summer

School is finally over and summer break has arrived!!  I am pretty sure that I am more excited about it than my children are.  Welcome Summer!!

Isaac made it through his first year at school.  I almost feel sorry for him that Kindergarten is over.  It’s kind of downhill from there.  Next year he will have to sit in a desk and do work and stuff.  I really feel for the guy.

I remember dropping Isaac off at Kindergarten the first day of school.  I got back into my car and I cried and I cried and I cried.  I wasn’t ready to not have little ones in the home, I was not yet pregnant with Jonah or even the loss that came before him.  I hated dropping him off every single morning.

Of course we got into the swing of things and I found myself used to being alone at home.  After Jonah was gone I dove into self betterment and exercise.  It’s easier to do those things when you don’t have to drag two opinionated boys around.  But, I’m still not very happy losing my little buddy to the school systems.  I know if I home schooled my children I would break them…so I guess I’ll cope.

Isaac is probably the most well-behaved child I know.  He aims to please and he pretty much does all that we say.  He does best with a gentle, loving command (I bet most children do) and his behavior problems go up the more irritated I am with him.  That being said, he got into so much trouble this year.  Exposing himself in the forest, punching people for fun, poking people for fun, kissing pretty much every person he could.  He was like a different child at school.  I just shook my head at the teacher when she would tell me some things.  I swear she was mixing up my little angel with some other kid.  He was in the principles office two days ago.  Oh that boy.

My dear and darling Silas had his best year so far.  He had a teacher that loves technology as much as him and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I said she completely adored geeking out with him.  In fact, she encouraged it.

She was so in tune with his academic skills and needs and learning style, she had him completely exempt from any spelling work and totally focused on his printing skills (he’s a walking spelling dictionary).  She made sure he read Charlotte’s Web with the grade 3’s and I’m pretty sure the entire class learned multiplication because Silas was so into it at one point.  So, thanks to my son, the entire class is ready for advanced math.  Silas kind of had many different grades of work during grade 2.  They were thinking of plopping the lad into grade 4 but social skills are just so much more important and he has to learn differently in any class setting so onto grade 3 he goes….I hope the teacher won’t make him read Charlotte’s Web again.

I’m so surprised that my son with autism is the one who had zero behavioral issues.  Well, aside from the recent event where he broke his classroom door, slapped the resource room teacher, tried to stab her with a pencil and then kicked his gym teacher.  He got it all out in one day.

So proud of my boys.  So excited to spend time with them this summer.  I have fantastic intentions of being on a super cool schedule and doing a lot more fun things with them.  Once upon a time I dreaded summer because, really, most kids with autism shouldn’t have a summer break.  The change is so intense for them and I think it can cause more harm than good.  He’s chilled out enough and now we can enjoy summers like a quasi-typical family.  You know…the kind of family who has a kid who does math while he eats his cereal…like an old man doing a crossword in the newspaper.