I Survived School!

Oh wait - I guess you were probably wanting to know more about how the kids did and not how I did :)

I will admit that it was a LONG day for me.  I haven't spent a day in school in a long time - I don't know how kids do it.  I guess it is probably because I have about 10,000 other things to be doing and I am usually moving at a pace that is about 100 times what we did today.  Kids have it easy :)

The kids were VERY excited to go to school and we actually made it (mostly) on time.  We were only about 2 minutes late considering the task it was to get out of here in the morning.  When we got there we found out that Wyatt and Hazel were the only two kids in their class.  Hmmm - not what I was expecting.  I knew it would be small, but really wanted them to have other kids to socialize with.  Thankfully, the second half of the day they were combined with the older kids so they had a lot of fun with that. 

Overall - the kids did great.  Let me give you the rundown:

Brody:  I wish SO bad I could have been in the room watching him - I really wanted to see how he did going back to school after close to 3 years.  The teacher said he did great but I didn't get any more details than that yet.  My favorite part:  For the first time in my life I wasn't worried about him.  I wasn't freaking out the whole time wondering if he was doing his work, running around or being a bit crazy...  It was the first time I have taken him to any type of class, school or lesson without my usual "informational disclaimer" to the teacher.  I always had to explain a few things so the teacher knew why he acted the way he did and that he really was a very good smart boy, just didn't always act that way because of his "disorder".   I dropped him off and introduced him as simply "Brody" - no label and no explanation.  I can't tell you how amazing it felt.  That feeling alone was worth all the years of work and all the money spent.  Although, I truly believe we never would have gotten here without Brain Balance - no matter how many other things we tried.  Our son (although he still has some things we need to work on) was a "typical", bright, little boy going to school.   I will be forever grateful for the chance my Heavenly Father gave me to raise such a sweet spirits and for his leading me to Brain Balance.   Now my sweet child(ren) can be who they were really meant to be and can reach their true potential. 

This is the only picture I got of Brody at school- great shot huh?  ;)  I do like that it shows that he was socializing and working together with another little boy.  They were building with an electric play set.

Wyatt:  My sweet Wyatt.  I know that someday I will be able to say about him what I said about Brody, but not yet.  He really did SO well for his first time in school and SO, SO much better than he would have been before Brain Balance.  However, he still has a long way to go.  In my mind (and heart) I know how smart and special he is and I know what he will become someday that sometimes I think I set my expectations too high.  That being said, he really did great.  Here are the highs and lows:

The Highs:

• He was overall very compliant and did what we asked him to do. 
• He picked up on the routine pretty quickly.
• When asked to clean up, he did it and even sang the "clean up" song!
• He learned quickly where the snack table was.  When he was hungry he sat at it and said "I want toast and bacon please".
• He painted, colored, built with blocks, etc. 
• They sat at the picnic tables outside for lunch and Wyatt sat nicely the whole time!  Yahoo!
• When we had lunch, they had the kids use a sponge to wipe off their own spot on the table.  Wyatt thought this was so fun and cleaned up his own spot!
• He ran out of the classroom, but only ONE time.  He just ran to the bathroom and then laughed like it was a game... The old Wyatt would have escaped 30 times in that time period - not kidding.  Maybe more?
• My very favorite was the painting.  He put the paint shirt on and was very excited.  They gave him a paint palette with 6 colors in it.  I thought he would paint a house right away, but I was wrong.  He dipped his brush in paint and then put it in the water.... Yes, the water.  He LOVED watching the water turn colors from the paint.  He kept doing it over and over with different colors.  I had to start making him paint something first and THEN dip his brush in the water and he didn't like me at first.  Eventually he just went along with it.  When the water was dirty he gave me the cup and said "wash" and so I went and dumped it out and got him clean water.  After his water got dirty again he just got right up and went over to the sink.  He climbed up on the step stool and dumped the dirty water in the sink.  He tried to turn on the water but didn't know how.  I went and showed him how to turn it on and off.  The rest of the day he walked over, dumped his water, got new water, turned off the faucet and went back to painting.  I just LOVED that he was doing it all on his own and was so self sufficient.  He painted a cute clown:

The Lows:

• The second half of the day he was more wild.  He kept running around the classroom doing his high pitched squealing that he does.  One of the girls asked me why he was so out of control....
• A girl was building a tower and he went up and knocked it over.  She was not very happy but the teacher helped her rebuild it.  
• Some other kids were building a house with some cool blocks and he went over and randomly knocked it over....
• He kept wanting to do repetitive things.  Paint over and over, (the water at least), build a tower with blocks over and over, etc. 
• When we went outside to the playground they have a giant play structure that the 3-6 year old kids are not allowed on at all.  That did NOT go over well.  He was screaming and falling on the ground and did not understand why I would take him to a playground and not let him climb on it...
• He ran out of the classroom once - I know I listed this in both places...  I was happy it was only once, but wished it wouldn't have been any at all. Can't I have everything I want? :)

Hazel:

• Hazel was so cute and did very well.  The first half of the day there were no other kids for her to play with but she still had a great time.  
• She had some one-on-one time with the teacher and that was great!
• She wanted to paint like her brother.  Unfortunately she started imitating him and painting the water...  
• The second half of the day there were other kids to play with and she had a blast!
• She also loved cleaning up her spot after lunch. 
• She just seemed so grown up - and she didn't seem to think that 9-2:30 was long at all...

I am SO glad that the kids loved their school.  Brody and Hazel didn't want to go home yet and were exited that we got to come back the next day.  Wyatt loved it too!  How do I know that?  Because we stopped back by the school to drop a friend at her car and Wyatt freaked out!  He started smiling and laughing and saying "school, school!"  He took his seat belt off and tried to get out of the car!  It tried to explain to him that we were coming back tomorrow, but he was NOT very happy when we drove away. 

This morning I had to wake up ALL THREE KIDS to go to school!  They only had 15 minutes to eat and get dressed and out the door.  When I went to wake Brody he said "I'm still nigh nigh".  It was cute.  When I got Haze she wasn't getting up until I told her she could put on a pretty dress and go to school.  When I tried to get Wyatt he was sound asleep.  I tried to wake him and he was stirring a bit.  I then said "Wyatt, get up so we can go to school".  He immediately opened his eyes and smiled and started kicking the blankets off!  He reached for me to pick him up and I carried him down the stairs.  He was so happy and excited and when we said it was time to get to the car that he literally ran down the hallway and got in the car.   (Yes, he is running in his cast...)

 Wyatt was even working on some math and reading.  There was also another little boy there today for them to play with!)

I am SO happy that my kids loved school.  I am especially happy that Wyatt loved school.  He had fun, he felt safe and comfortable there and he wanted to go back.  That tells me that we made the right decision sending them to this amazing school.  There is still a lot of work to be done developing his education plan and getting him used to the schedule there.  It is going to be a team effort with me, the teacher, the school director and Wyatt's aide (whom we still need to hire...)  We need to figure everything out so that we are all working together to make sure that Wyatt adjusts and is successful and able to learn in school.   I KNOW that we can do it and that Wyatt will do great in school.  I also know that having him in this school will bless the teachers and other students.   They will learn a lot and learn how Wyatt works and love him just like everyone else that has worked with him in the past.  He has a way of making people get very attached to him :) 


Goodnight!