The First Week has Come and Gone....

Whew! The first week of school has come and gone and we survived. Both of us. We had a few homework battles but that is to be expected, right? It seems the Star Chart and earning the Mario plush toys has been a huge motivator for him and works wonderfully as a behavior modification plan. It has become one of my greatest ideas! Even his BSC is impressed. She even mentioned it in a meeting with her coworkers and supervisors! Whoo hoo!

Anyway, back off the side road... I've added a couple of things to his "required" items that are school related that I like quite a bit. Not only is homework one (being our biggest battle and I was forewarned he'd have math homework every night) but reading me a book is also one. On nights he doesn't have homework like Fridays and weekends? Well, he can read me another book. That makes two books and he can get his homework star! It's a great way for him to work on his reading fluency. (Can you tell I'm a teacher?)

This has actually worked out well. My fiance and I just love listening to him read. He'll do all the little voices of the characters and uses inflection! It's pretty impressive really. Not to mention how he does love to read. We have more books in this house then I have shelves to put them on! Every time the book fair comes to school this kid gets to go with a surprising amount of money and get several books. The teachers looked at me funny at first, but now they know! He'll spend every last dollar! He even helps the school aides set up the book swap and they'll let him choose a couple books in trade. He keeps bringing out books to read that I've never seen before!

What makes this chart even better right now? Since he has his own chores to do, like feed the cats and empty/fill the dishwasher and my favorite -clean up his toys, it leaves me a little more time to work on my classes for my Masters (Special Education for anyone who isn't aware). So far my house has remained relatively clean and therefore, my sanity is remaining somewhat intact. I HATE clutter. It messes with my mind. I also hate stepping on toys. Especially Legos. What makes those things hurt so much?

Anyways.... His ADHD meds haven't done a whole lot yet so his doctor doubled them. Hopefully we can see some change and we never get to "hell week." That week should be coming up soon. You know, the week where the novelty of new teachers and new classmates wears off and all hell breaks loose? I'm hoping that this year, it never happens.  Guess we'll see.

Another great thing? Sleep. Yep, I said it. He's SLEEPING! Since the melatonin dose was so high and not being effective his doc put him on a sleep aid and by golly.... It works! He's asleep within half an hour and out cold.... ALL NIGHT! Holy cow! No more 4 am eyeballs peeking over the edge of the mattress! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I've gotten comments about how much more rested he seems at school and how he's in a much better mood walking to his class in the morning than he was last year or any other year. Yes!  Since I drop him off in the morning before school starts now he is able to wake up on his own and start his own day before we go. This is a huge plus since it's his natural clock at work here! Dropping him off and picking him up at the end of the day also gives me the face to face time with his AS teacher and aides. They actually told me last week that since they see me every afternoon they weren't going to write in the communication log because it takes too much time and they'd just talk to me when I picked him up. Ok! We still write notes obviously if need be and can contact each other by cell phone.

So far 4th grade is shaping up to be a pretty good year for him. Here's to hoping it continues!

Love this kid!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this kid?

No really. He totally rocks. I know, we are all supposed to think that of our children but really, he's the best.

Sure I get frustrated. Sure I want to throw things, yell, scream, hole up, etc. But really, at the end of the day, he is truly my heart.

I've been counting down the days until school starts (2 days!) like all parents do. How many days it is until we can get that 6 hour break, 5 days a week. When I reflect back on this summer, the first summer ever like this one, I have to say.... I just may miss him.

This is my first summer where I didn't work. For 9 years I have worked 40 hours a week (and in recent years had summer courses for my Master's) and had so little time to spare. This summer he was away for one day a week. He went to the local YMCA every Monday and had one heck of a time at Camp Sherwin with his TSS in tow.

We spent 99% of our time attached at the hip. There were times when I was quite certain that what was left of my sanity would just fly right out the window. He would sneak into my bed in the middle of the night. Curl up with me in the morning. Interrupt my showers. Follow me around the house. Accompany me on every errand. Even go out to dinner with me and my girl friends.

He saw more of his mommy's daily life in one summer than he has the previous 9 years combined.

His BSC asked me yesterday if I had seen any of the behavior we saw at the end of the school year. He was clingy, would cry easily, and was constantly fearing that I didn't love him for some reason.

You know... I haven't. She said this summer must have been great for us, it allowed us to reconnect and he got to see how much he is loved.

Well damn. She's right.

I think back to all the lazy mornings. Announcements of being out of some food item or another (seemingly every day). Paper creations everywhere. Legos.... (Nuff said!) Pleas to stay up (not like either of us had anyplace to be!). Road trips. Explosions from the microwave. Strange noises I'd hear as I lay in bed quickly followed by "It's ok mom! Everything is all right, I promise! It was nothing!" I can't help but chuckle.

Last night I told him he had to start sleeping in his own bed. I barely had it out when he asked why. I told him he needed to get ready for school to start. I could see it in his face. As excited as he is for 4th grade....

He isn't ready for summer to end either.