Time to Detox

*Deep Breath* Hold it in* Exhale* Repeat* Aaaah!

The past couple of weeks have been heavy, clearly obvious by some of my weighted posts recently. But today is a new day, the start of a(nother) new chapter with new opportunities.

Today is JC's last day at the private school we chose for him over the summer. In short, for those who don't know, I concluded early into the new school that it was not an appropriate placement for our son. I made a mistake and had to accept and admit this in order to correct it. Not particularly pleasant, but such is life. Ironically, of course, the report about his behavior yesterday was that he did a "terrific job." This could be in part that he was adjusting, but I can't help but suspect that there was also an energy shift (his and theirs) once it was clear that he would not be continuing there. But in any case, good days are good, regardless of why, I suppose.

He will spend most of next week home with me, returning to our neighborhood school for part of the day on Friday, 9/4, then returning full-time after Labor Day. The teachers and support staff there that know us are reportedly (through a mom friend) thrilled that JC will be returning, which does my heart much good. And JC himself seems to be very pleased with this new plan. I know he will be thrilled with the positive attention (as always) and familiar faces. People who already know him, "get" him, and adore him (of course ;) ).

So for the first four days of next week we will plan some local field trips and some structured "mom school" activities to prepare him for his return to school. On the fourth day, in the afternoon, I will take him to visit the general ed kindergarten class where he will spend about 30 minutes each morning (for starters) to share in their circle time. I know that he will want to explore the new space and any/all materials within his reach, so I hope that by giving him a chance to do that before he starts, he can get it out of his system enough to participate a bit better, with less distraction the following day.

So, now that that is all set (for the most part), I've decided to take a look back over some of the very positive experiences we had this summer before the end when anxiety took over.
I kept him home with me this summer, which save for the last few weeks after our trip up north, was a really good call, I think. We enjoyed zoo school, grew butterflies, family trips, games, a few play dates, and a trip up north, which included seeing his Lady Liberty and a gathering w/ friends at Central Park in NYC.

Also, he learned how to rhyme this summer! :) This of course is something (like many things) that he takes to an extreme (For example, I might ask, "How was PE today?" and he'll respond with, "What rhymes with PE, mom?"), but we'll work through that, I'm sure. He also learned about other languages and can count to ten in Spanish and desperately wants to know how to say words in French and German, but it has become a bit obsessive, so we're discouragin it for now. But we do accept "adios" instead of good-bye most days. :) He's also now able to identify many numbers up to 100. He still gets a bit tripped up w/ 13, 14 & 15 because they sound so similar, so I'm providing the written word to help him distinguish between them.

And, I am proud to announce that he goes to bed like a big boy now. I took back the bedtime routine from dh during the week, on a mission, and it worked out well. JC now has a healthy routine of story time, juice, kisses and hugs, and then we leave the room and he gets himself to sleep. And we're even keeping his door open. :) Prior to this new "mission" dh did bedtime most days and would lie down with JC, sometimes taking up to an hour for him to sleep. This was something I was not happy about (it was physically difficult as JC would become super hyped and would climb all over us until he crashed) and had very little patience for. I'm beyond pleased that this is behind us now. It makes life easier for all of us, really, and will make it much easier to hire sitters to stay with him during the evening (when we grow that money tree). :)
Also, after reading a few stories from the library or his book shelf this week, we have ended by reading a couple of pages from his "First Picture Dictionary." This has really been quite pleasant for us both. He's been surprisingly attentive and interested and is making some wonderful connections (like, "Chimpanzees, chickens and cheetahs are all animals dat sart wiff ch!" and "Chickens not have fur!")

So, this summer brought many positives memories, and today I wish to remember them and feel their warmth.