Our Morning Of The First Day Of School

Holly crap.  Dayton woke up at 5am all on his own, got dressed, brushed his teeth, showered, brushed his hair, put his shoes on and packed a few things for his lunch...  Never, in his school history has he gotten up two hours early of his own accord, and got ready for school!  Meanwhile, I'm wondering around the house like a zombie as I've only had two hours of sleep, grunting to answer Dayton's questions.  Stumbling around the kitchen with eyes half open, I somehow managed to make coffee, just wished I had the energy to drink it!  You know things are bad when you mentally pray to God to give you the strength to drink your coffee.  Let's face it, coffee is a nectar from the Gods, and if you need to get something accomplished during your day, coffee is a necessity.  In my case, I need coffee to just simply speak.  I wish someone would come up with an intravenous form of coffee...  I'd be willing to be a guini pig in the study, so please, spread the word!!! 

Anyhow...  back to Dayton and his first day of school...  an hour before his bus is to pick him up, Dayton's already asking to go and wait for the bus.  By this time, I've managed to make his lunch, but I'm still grunting responses and trying to finish my first cup of coffee...   And I'm thinking SERIOUSLY?  This is the same kid who swore all summer he's never going back to school!  I'm still trying to figure out where all of his energy is coming from, I mean, the kid refused to go to sleep the night before, staying up until close to 1am, and now he's up sooooo early...  What's happened to the kid that has to sleep eight to ten hours a day?!  So I end up walking to the bus stop with Dayton twenty minutes early, carrying my first cup of coffee with me.

The bus of course is fifteen minutes late, as it is the first day of school...  I was expecting that, and as much as I tried to prepare Dayton for it, he wasn't as understanding as I was.  Go figure, I'm the one that spazes all the time, and yet I'm remaining calm (probably due to lack of caffeine), and Dayton's going nuts.  His autism kicks in...
"The city bus has come by already mamma, where's my bus?!  The city bus always comes before my bus.  Call the bus mamma, they forgot about me."
"Babe, they could never forget about you sweetie.  It's the first day of school.  Many parents forget during the two months how long it takes to get their kids out the door, they're running late, which makes your bus late."
"But my bus ALWAYS comes after the city bus!!!"  A little melt down...  Then another change...  A school bus we think is ours, turns into the high school across the street where we live...  Holly crap...
"Maaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaa!!!"  Now we've got a wee bit of a melt down, but it's OK.  I've sucked back the rest of my coffee by now.  I'm alive!  I can take care of this!

Thank God our bus came within minutes of the blow out.  Dayton calmed down when he saw the bus slow down and recognize his bus driver.  He got on the bus, looked out the window and gave me a lil' wave.  Big grin on his face.  He may be nine, and he looks like he's nine, but this morning's melt down reminded me of a five year old.  At this point all I can do is pray the rest of his day goes well.  New teacher, new principal, new aid...  Definitely clutching my cell phone beside me all day long.  Two choices, back to bed or more coffee?  Back to bed it is, with my phone on the pillow beside me, just in case.  No call from the school.

3:10pm.  I'm outside waiting for Dayton's bus, wearing my bathing suit and sarong, so if Dayton had a rough day, he'd be excited at seeing me knowing my attire meant we would be going swimming.  I see the bus round the corner and become a little nervous.  Dayton comes off the bus, and he's SMILING!!!  Wow!!!  On our walk home, he tells me how hard he worked "my first day of grade four.  Grade four is really hard mom, but I did good work, just like you told me too.  I did what the teacher said.  I kept my hands to myself.  I did good mamma!!!"
"What kind of work did you do?  Tell me everything, right from the beginning!"
"I almost fell asleep on the bus, but I didn't.  I got to school, met my teacher and my aid, and the kids in my class.  I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the recess bell rang.  hahahaha."
"Really?  You slept in class?  What was your aid doing?"
"Oh, she was tired too."
"Hahahaha.  Tell me more.  What happened next."
"Then my tummy hurt, but the principal said I had to stay at school and not go home yet, cause it might get better.  Then we had art class, and we had to draw our sneaker and I did.  Mrs. H (his aid) helped me where I got stuck.  I did most of it all by myself."
"Wow Dayton, that's fantastic!  So, do you like your new teacher?"
"She's really good, better than Mrs. D.  I like Mrs. H, but I miss Mr. J (Dayton's last year's aid)."
"OK, so what makes you like this year's teacher better Dayton?"
"She understand me."
"You mean you understand her?  Her instruction?  You understand what she wants you to do?"
"Yeah, and she's nice."

Hey, if he's comfortable, I'm comfortable too.  I'm super happy he's doing work, and listening to his teachers.

"Then my teacher got sick too.  So the new principal came in to teach us.  I like him too.  He didn't give me any trouble."
"Well, could that be because you listened to him, did your work, and did what you were asked to do without fighting?"
"Maybe.  I like him."
"That's great Dayton.  I'm so glad you like your teacher, your aid and the new principal.  That's awesome!"

I pray this good relationship continues.  Everyone's had the summer off to relax and rejuvenate, so I hope the good vibes don't end once everyone gets into routine and feels overwhelmed with work.  I pray Dayton is right, and that his teacher does understand Dayton, and that Dayton understands her too.  I pray for a year of success. 


Praying for a year of success for all of our little ones.  Consider yourselves hugged,


Lou