Anxiety

Not his, mine.

I don't know why I'm anxious about the start of a new school year. When I ask him if he's ready to go back to school he replies with a resounding "Yeah" and when I ask him how he feels he says "excited". So he's not overly anxious (that I can tell anyway).

Gr 1 was a fabulous year for us. So much growth. There's nothing to suggest that Gr 2 will be any different. I mean, I'm sure there will be bumps along the way but that's to be expected, right? And we'll deal with them just as we did last year...one at a time.

I guess I'm hoping that by putting it down in print and getting it out here that my anxiety will fade a little bit. Well, that and I may send a tiny email to the principal to make sure everyone's ready for him next week.

Do you know where your children are?

I don't. Well, of course I know where they are. But I'm not looking at them.

Ha.

They said "we're gonna go outside and play". Hmmm. Gotta think that one through.

"Ok, stick together."

Ha. Come on, do it with me. A nice big belly laugh. Ha!

Ok, so it's kind of a first for me.

Sometimes I wonder how we ever got to this point. This is pretty surreal. But awesome too.

Wonder how long I can stay away from the window?

We're back!

So, we did a bit of wandering. But nothing as extensive as we first planned. Not because of behaviour or resistance to change or anything else like that.

We just decided we loved "hangin' out" at the cottage so...that's what we did. Short visit with family and some touring around but then we decided to come home and spend some family time here whilst we still could.

3 weeks till school starts.

I'll post a couple of pics when I get organized. I have two camera cards full of photos that I havn't sorted nor printed. They span at least a year of picture taking. *sigh* Time she does fly by.

Here, There, and Everywhere

We're heading off on an adventure. Visiting friends and family. Don't know where we're going after that, but we're just going to wander and see where we end up! I imagine we'll be travelling for a couple of weeks. I'll try to take pictures!

Support

It's so important, isn't it?

We've had a new respite worker coming to our home a couple of times a week. He's fantastic, Patrick adores him, and he just seems to teach by instinct. The best part is that older brother and I can spend some time together...working on school work, picking berries, visiting, etc.

Community support is wonderful too, when it's there. Once a week the boys attend a library camp (just for an hour) at the local library. They know us there, care for us, and I could imagine all the caring eyes watching Patrick while I sat in the corner and chatted with another mom. Both boys have been doing so well.

Not that life is perfect. Nor do I expect it. I do look back at the past few years and sometimes wonder how we made it through. In restrospect, the how is much less important (for me) than the fact that we did. But a big part of the how is the people around us all helping in their own ways, both big and small, to lift us up.

As school starts in the fall we'll face a whole new set of *gr 2* challenges. But isn't it wonderful that they're new ones?

School support is really where we hit the jackpot. We're very lucky (as I've heard such horror stories from other families who have to fight so hard to get the smallest supports) and I hope it continues. It's such a nice, small, rural, family-type school. All the teachers know Patrick and look out for him. The older students also know him and help out. The EA's are magnificent and give so much more than they need to. Even when a teacher might not be the perfect fit I've always found them to be willing to listen and learn and grow right along with us.

I've been known to grumble about lack of family support, having fewer friends post-diagnosis, etc. But after typing this out I truly realize how lucky we are to have such a wonderful support system in place. And I have to give a shout out to the friends who've stuck by us....you're all awesome!

Prince Edward Island

My favorite pictures from our trip are of the boys frolicking in the ocean. We take them to this nice little inlet where they can go out really far and not get over their heads (see the red glow under the water, that's the sand bank).

And I can't seem to get any more pics to upload. Oh well, more to follow (including Patrick eating mussels and some big, white windmills).

Bits and Bobs

The fish experiment had...mixed results. Dad and Older Brother ate it up no problem. Mum, through sheer force of will, made it through to the last couple of bites. Patrick, well, he tried his best and ended up eating everything else on his plate followed by a few bites of the fish that, to him anyway, was "disgusting". Ah well, a different recipe next week.

Patrick's having a new respite/special needs worker over today. He's met him in passing at school and seems to think he's ok. I'm hoping this works out so I'll have two people to call upon instead of our (one and only and fantastic) regular person. Sometimes rural living makes things much more difficult...although I wouldn't trade it for anything.

We're planning a week at the cottage in August sometime. Hmmm, I'm thinking much preparation and anticipation of possible issues will have to happen between now and then.

We had a fabulous vacation in Prince Edward Island last month. Still don't have those pictures on my computer or printed. *sigh* Who has the time?