School is done so bring on the summer fun!

We did it! We survived the school year and that was a huge accomplishment for all of us. I need a break from dealing with the school. I'm tired of the red tape and the politics. They got in the last jab with the way they chose to handle his report card. He had to go part time due to no available EA's to support him in the afternoon but they also counted those afternoons as absences so on his school record it says he missed 68.5 days since March. Makes me so angry.

A lot of the focus was put on what he did not do versus what he did and we all know that he was not able to function without an EA which didn't come into place until the middle of March. Of course that happened because I pushed for it, yet the school chose to write that it had to happen because of safety concerns, and they put it into place. Amazing how they twist the words.

I feel everyone did as well as they could given the circumstances we were in, but I would have appreciated them awknowledging how hard Superman tried. He got none of that. So I responded to their comments and that will be placed in his permanent student record.

So now we're on to the fun stuff! It's so great to have him home! To know that *I* am in control of his day and therefore he can breathe and relax. I love spending summers with him. His little sister couldn't possibly be more excited to have him home to play with.

I was so proud of him today. We had to run some errands and we tried to make it to the mall right when it opened because it's not as crowded, not as noisy. We had plans to let him pick out a new toy at the Disney Store. I was shocked to walk in and see it crawling with people. Obviously I missed the memo that said that all clothing was an extra 50% off. ACK! But we had committed and to back out now would have caused a massive meltdown. So for the first 15 mins he did great. But then, as people started to fill the place, and it got more crowded, more noisy, people bumping or pushing him, he started to lose it. We sat in the middle of the floor while I talked him down and eventually got him out. I asked him how it feels when he's in a place that's busy, loud and crowded. He said "a little bit angry, and little bit sick, a little bit scared, and a little bit happy."

But the rest of the time was great! We hit the mall, went to Shoppers, Mastermind, and then dropped off his report card response form at the school before heading home.

We got an AquaPlay toy. It's a water toy...built like a canal with bridges, gates, cranes etc so he can block water, release it, make deliveries etc. Plus it folds up so he can bring it to the cottage next week. I'm trying to find some outdoor toys or things that don't require batteries to help keep him engaged.

So we made it through the school year and now I feel like we can finally breathe. I spoke with his teacher today and I'll keep up with his math, reading and writing to help him out for the new year (but I'm certainly not going to beat him over the head with workbooks. The kid needs a break). She also mentioned she's leaving grade 2 and moving to grade 1. Will be interesting to see what happens next year.

Sometimes you just want to smack a person

To the woman who was out walking her dog this morning, and witnessed my son collapse on the sidewalk in a heap of stress and tears....you know who you are. You decided to walk by me, look down at my son and comment "been there done that. But MY kid stopped having temper tantrums at 2." Well you can just go to hell.

You want to know WHY he was a in a heap on the sidewalk? We were about to leave for school at the time we always do, but he had to pee. So those added 5 mins in the bathroom threw off his entire morning routine. It meant we were 5 mins late getting out the door. It meant he missed his 5 mins on the slide before the bell rang so when we tried running to school and the bell rang on the way, he collapsed in a puddle of tears. His routine is his lifeline so his last day at school was spent glued to my thigh and not wanting me to leave, but not wanting to miss his last day either.

And you had to prance by with your snarky remark which only served to make the situation worse.

Bite me.

Motherhood is kicking my butt

Oh, where to start. It's been awhile...

The diagnosis marathon ~ May 25 was the grand finale to the diagnosis treadmill we've been running on. That constant feeling like you're running your heart out and yet still don't seem to be going anywhere. All in all, fantastic appointment. Final diagnosis for Superman is Autistic Spectrum Disorder, specifically Aspergers and co-morbid with high anxiety. Nothing shocking there. Dr. assures me the report will be in my hot little hands within 2-3 weeks. We have a nice little chat about how it's imperative that it not being longer than that because he we can't access services for him in the next school year without it. I leave feeling hopeful and dutifully check my mailbox daily.

Fast forward a month later and still no report. I faithfully call the doctor on a regular basis to leave a message asking her to return my calls because I need something from her in writing just stating that he has X and report to follow because that is enough for the school to start the paper work process to get him on the lists for various services for the Fall. Of course, she doesn't return my calls. Grrr.

So I am currently up a creek without a paddle and have several people at the school breathing down my neck asking for the report. Geez people. When the damn report arrives, you will be the second the know. The first to know will be me because I will be the one pulling it out of the mailbox. So until that happens, there's not a damn thing that I can do!

Birthday parties are not all they're cracked up to be ~ Superman went to a friend's 7th birthday party yesterday. First hour was swimming. He did great. Second hour was eating, he did great. Third hour was games, he lost it. Unfortunately, I had a previous committment that I couldn't get out of so DH had to take the kids over.

I'm the one who takes Superman to social things about 98% of the time so this would be a first for both of them. By the fourth meltdown, DH finally pulled him and brought him home. He's slowly learning Superman's cues about when he's had enough and needs someone to step in for him. I know to shadow him, help him transistion, when to explain things and when to step back. That is something DH is still trying to learn. It's hard when we only have him home for part of Saturday and about an hour and a half on Thursday. You can't learn much about kids in such a short period of time.

But it was good that this happened with DH at the helm and me not there to step in. He was forced to deal with it and after calling me on my cell so we could talk about what happened, he handled it very well. Unfortunately, he left all of our stuff and his running shoes at the neighbours house. Must go pick those up today.

Some days I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I'm so tired from trying to stay one step ahead of Superman and help the world make sense to him. Then you throw a toddler into the mix and you have a rather tired looking mum, a lot of toys strewn on the floor and not enough hours in the day to get everything done.