Warming Up to School

X-man has had a hard week at camp. Apparently Savoy is one of the few places having summer camp this last week before school starts and the place is FULL. So full, that X-man's having to fend for himself and he's having a hard time of it.

Every day I get stories about other kids who make him the bad guy and chase him. Boys who won't stop when he asks them, too. Incidents where he's got so carried away playing that he's hurt someone. Or when he tried to use his words and got so frustrated that he's pulled someone's hair. It makes me feel totally awesome when I pick him up and he's crying every single day.

We go over the plan on what he should do every day in these instances, but he is frustrated that in the heat of the moment he can't control his impulses. He's a wreck.

This morning we had headed over to Carrie Busey to check out the teacher list. X-man has the two new teachers that are going to share the first grade classroom. In all honesty, though, it took me 45 minutes to convince him that it was okay to just walk into the doors of the school to see the class lists. He was dead set against it. The idea of a new building was scaring him. Between the events at camp and the reaction to school, it made me nervous. Last year he made a couple friends but he did best with them one on one. In a group, he was always crying and had a hard time figuring out how to negotiate play, until he started crying. And then some kids would just walk away and refuse to play with him, and other would start to make fun of him to call him a cry baby. Sometimes this was because he was trying to get them to play his game, his way -- and I've done enough of that to know it's impossible because he's always changing the rules and story line on you (the six year old development book says this is very normal, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating). Other times, kids were being manipulative and telling him that he wasn't their friend any more if he didn't do something their way. And -- because he wanted to belong -- he'd go along, even if he knew it was a bad idea.

So, I'm hoping this year doesn't have 12 weeks of hell before it finally gets better -- socially. Academically he does okay. He's not the brightest but he works hard and he really likes math, but hates handwriting. He's also ferociously interested in everything science-related.

I e-mailed Mr. Scott, the principal today, because he'd mentioned when X-man started behavioral therapy with Dr. April last spring that maybe he'd like to come and check out where his room would be. I saw that there was a note sent home that said this might not happen. So, I let him know if it was too early, that I understood.

In true Mr. Scott fashion, he e-mailed right away and gave me a 4 p.m. time slot. I got X-man out of camp early and drove him over to the school. He was all tied up in knots about going in. But once he got in, he was enthralled. He was checking out all the basketball hoops in the gym, and the moveable door between the gym and the cafeteria. He saw Mrs. Kloth's art room and complimented her on all her new pictures.  Mrs. Burt's room has a cool circle built into the carpeting that he found convenient.

Mr. Scott pointed out all the wireless routers in the rooms and library, and X-man went around and pointed all of the routers he could find around each of the rooms. He saw a kindergarten classroom and then he got down to the first grade and he was every so excited to meet both of his teachers, see where his backpack will hang up and meet the other first grade teachers. Each classroom has moveable walls and purple doorways that he found very fun.

He got to see the bathrooms and where Mr. Scott and Mrs. Magrini's office. And when we left, he was a pretty happy camper. So hooray.

In other news, we went to X-man's swim lesson at the Y. Ms. Ellen tried to give him a "swim test" for the water slide without him knowing it. But X-man totally figured it out. He treaded in the deep water for 10 seconds, but once she threw the duck down the lane pool for him to fetch. He refused. Even though he could swim the shorter part of the pool no problem.

They also had the Crocodile in the pool! We hadn't seen it since we toured the place before they officially opened. X-man and our neighbor Sam I Am ended up playing and climbing everywhere. We're trying two new Parents' Night Out programs this fall, because, sadly, the ones at Savoy Rec keep getting canceled due to lack of participation. So we're trying one at the tennis center in October and one in October and November at the Y. We'll see if X-man likes them. They're a little shorter than Savoy, but similar in structure.

I worked on developing a rose garden in the backyard yesterday and today. I had planted two bushes earlier in the summer before the drought next to where the peppers were supposed to be. But then crap happened with Maya and travel and I didn't get out there to care for them like I should have. So I had 4' tall weeds and 15" tall pepper plants. :-(

I transported the three out of the eight that survived and then tried to dig holes for the rose plants. The ground was too hard, so I left the sprinkler on for three hours this morning, and finally the clay was loose enough for me to dig. Then I filed the hole with topsoil.

It was a lot of work, but the bushes look good. And I promise to water them to to keep them alive.