Eddie’s first day of school is now only two days away. I’m not sure who is more excited, Eddie, or me. One of the reasons I haven’t been up-to-date on my posts lately is because the last few weeks have not only been busy, but also pretty hard on Eddie. If your child is anything like him, they also may be struggling with the end of summer, and the sheer lack of a routine.
When school let out in June, I knew that we simply had to have some sort of routine to maintain Eddie’s sanity and general happiness. However, as much as I knew that to be true, it became impossible to provide. When every other week, day, or hour a new activity was upon us, it was just too difficult to set a schedule any of us could depend on. Also, we simply weren’t ready to give up our summer adventures to make sure Eddie had some predictability. Maybe we were being selfish, but we were also modeling the “real world.”
Aside from utter chaos, Eddie also has suffered some regression during the summer. For example, he is still able to walk independently, but instead of choosing that mode of travel, he’d rather scoot on his bottom. I’m not sure if this is truly regression, or simply laziness. Both can be characteristics of summer. I guess the answer to that will be upon us during the first day of school.
As a teacher of the visually impaired, as well as being his mom, the first day makes me nervous. If he shows up and isn’t willing to do anything, I’m afraid his teachers will think we sat around all summer eating ice cream and soaking up the sun. Yes, we did do quite a bit of that, but we also tried to maintain a respectable level of expectations. However, to be honest, I am his mom before I am his teacher, and I want us all to enjoy the summer. We don’t make Eddie submit to boot-camp, even though maybe we should.
As I sit on the edge of glorious time off, I feel butterflies in my stomach for the school days to come. I hope for great things during Eddie’s first grade year, and accomplishments that will amaze us all. I hope for growth in leaps and bounds, and for goals met that maybe weren’t even realized. Above all, I hope for his success; in whatever form that takes. All these desires come with the realization that he is who he is, and no matter what kind of year he may have, I’ll be proud.