first day of school

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Today. First day of school. 

Gosh there's been some build up since December.

When you have a kid who really doesn't transition well or cope with any major change (and who they weren't even sure would go to a mainstream school 12 months ago due to developmental impairment,) well, you do your homework.

We've walked around the school. We went and got his school uniform. Bought the school shoes. Drove up and sat outside at 9am one morning so he could see all the kids arriving (and get a feel for what the gates look like.) 

We've practiced packing his bag, identifying his recess box and his lunch box. We went and met the teacher. We've practiced carrying the bag. 

And we've comprehensively considered homeschooling as an alternative.

He was all organised, Henry-style, for this morning. 

We have a notice board with laminated pictures on it that show him what he needs to do before school and he puts them on a 'finish' line when he's done. That worked really well.

We took some photos and off we went. 

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And he was perfectly fine. When he went in for orientation in December he spent a great deal of time lying on the floor pretending to be asleep and we didn't get any of that today. 

He went in, put his bag away like a pro and I left him with a year 3 kid who was showing him how to make cool patterns on a computer-based drawing game. 

Henry-utopia.

Was I teary? Honestly, not at all.

I cried when I left him at his first Lifestart class last year, a once-a-week early intervention program with kids that were mostly non-verbal. I cried a couple of times when I left him at pre-school and he really didn't want to be there (I considered quitting my job on the spot those days.) 

But there was no crying today. When you have a kid like Henry and so many things in the past few years have been out of our control and really worrying, when you walk him into a great school with great teachers and a fantastic school community, there is only reason to celebrate.

So cheers

Let's hope he enjoys tomorrow as much as he enjoyed today. 

And maybe he'll be as dorky as his Mum and just love school. 

xxx

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