First Day of First Grade

Today was Teddy's first day of first grade! He was so excited that he was jumping for joy in the parking lot when we dropped him off. He saw quite a few friends, from the grandfather who always sees him after school, to the only para who is returning from his classroom last year to the person from the district who supports his entire classroom to the principal and the office staff.

My smiling first and second grade kiddos. 

Teddy's back in the same classroom as last year with two returning classmates, one brand new full-time classmate and a classmate who'll be there half days. His teacher is brand new to his classroom, one paraprofessional returned from last year and there's a brand new paraprofessional. His teacher was occupied with the new student, so Teddy hopped on a tricycle and was happily riding it when we left and wished his team luck.

As Dave and I walked down the hall, I might have commented that they're in over their heads ... not that I don't think they're capable, but I cannot fathom stepping into a classroom with 4-5 children who have the type of needs that Teddy has. And those adults are outnumbered. There's a reason I wished them luck.

And how did Teddy's day go, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. He can't tell us anything about how his day went, and I'm going to assume that today was so chaotic that there was no time to jot down a note.

Here's to hoping he had a great first day and that we'll settle into a routine with regular communication with his team, lots of integration into his first grade classroom and therapists who partner with us to support him.

Update: A note came home on day 2 that Teddy had a good first day of school and that he enjoyed gym class with lots of smiles. That kid loves gym class because he gets to be a bit more daring than the rest of the day. He's actually allowed to climb things then. 

First First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for both my boys: 4k for AJ and early childhood for Teddy. Someone asked me if it felt like the years flew by that AJ was already heading to school. I joked I'd been waiting for this day for 5 years (even though AJ isn't even 5 yet) since it was really difficult for me to leave work when he was born. And then I said the emotions about AJ going to school were really overshadowed by Teddy because Teddy alters our perspective on everything.

If we didn't have Teddy, I'm sure AJ's first day of school would have been more emotional for us. Instead, nearly all our nerves were wrapped into worrying about Teddy. We're excited for AJ, but it's easy because he's thrilled to go to school and has had so much fun the past two days. He comes home ready to show off anything he has, even a piece of paper in his folder that I need to complete, and rattles off everything he can remember about his day (which still doesn't include the names of anyone from his classroom, even his teacher).

It's harder with Teddy because at best I'll get a note or a quick statement of how his day went. He can't tell me anything about what he did, if he got hurt (like AJ who had someone step on his foot today) and who his friends are.

All smiles before school!

But, I know in my heart that he will love school. He will learn amazing new things. He will win over his teachers and therapy team with his smile, charm and personality. He will make new friends and learn to play with them in at least a somewhat socially acceptable manner. His smile as I picked him up yesterday told me that he had fun. (It did help to hear from his teacher, though, that he had a good day.)

I love how much these two love each other!

And another positive note: given their track record in day care settings, I'm quite proud to report that neither one has been kicked out of school yet. (I'm serious ... they've both been booted from day care ... and almost got booted together for a second time before we pulled them.)