First Day of School

Ben went back to school on Tuesday and took the bus again on Wednesday. Am I sad? No. Is he? Heck no. We have been doing the school thing for so long that it really was a smooth transition from summer to back in the game. We talked about school for a few days before the open house and Ben was so excited to go back and see his friends. By friends he was referring to his teacher, the 2 parapro's, his OT and his speech teacher. We are still working on the kids as friends at school part. He had a great summer with other children and interaction but school is one therapy after another in a room with children with special needs. It is tough to work through social and speech issues when every other child in the room has social and speech issues. We walked into the open house and here I was so excited about Ben's new found "let's play attitude" and he greeted three children by name and asked "how are you", "I'm glad to see you" and "Do you want to play trains?". Nothing. Not a single response. Then Ben moved on to the teacher and they was excitement and hugging and chatting about summer. I guess we'll just keep working at it and hope that Ben's baby steps forward will help another child take a baby step forward.

The first day of "ride the bus" school brought up some request from Ben. First was that he wanted to go to school but in Mama's car. I told him that it was a bus day but that I would pick him up. That was OK but only if Mama took the bus with Ben. I just told him that the bus was just for him and he thought about it for a second then said "OK Mama." That was it. He just need some answers to straighten thing out and then he was smooth sailing. It amazes me how mature he has become over the last year. He want's honest information, an opportunity to ask his questions and he's good to go. Amazing.

On a selfish note, I am really glad to have the opportunity to chat with adults when I pick him up. I truly enjoy the women in Ben's room and am excited to hear all of the new ideas for packing in the calories at school. May seem to be a simple thing but it is great knowing that there are good people on "Ben's Team". I really might make T-shirts Allison ; )