Tuesday was a tough day for Drew – and for me! He had his school open house that night and his anxiety kicked in. He spent the day crying, being demanding, whining, being obstinate. Nothing would make him happy. It was tough. And it took me awhile to figure out what was going on. I hadn’t seen this behavior for so long. Once I figured it out I felt better. It didn’t make the day go better but at least I knew why he was acting out. Then Joe called later in the day to tell me he wouldn’t be home after all due to work issues. I told him what was going on with Drew and he knew immediately what the problem was. He sometimes catches on sooner than me.
I was worried about getting Drew to the open house by myself but once it was time to head to town he was fine. He kept asking if he could be homeschooled but he didn’t put up a struggle when I said it was time to go. He has a wonderful teacher this year. Actually 2nd grade is just wonderful at our elementary. You can’t go wrong with either teacher – they are close friends and they love the kids and it shows in everything they do. They work together daily, sharing their classrooms with each other. We’ve had both of them in the past with the older kids and love them both. Drew walked in and his teacher’s face immediately lit up, she walked over with a huge smile on her face, gave Drew a fist bump and said “There’s my guy!” Drew picked out his desk, unpacked his backpack, found his locker and it was time to go. He asked if he could go back into the classroom so back we went. He wandered around the room, just taking it all in. Looking at the books and games and all the different areas that were set up. Then we left. We got home and he stated he wished school didn’t start on Thursday – he was ready to go the next day!
Instead of saying he wanted to be homeschooled he was ready to go back to school. He doesn’t do well with change and struggles with anxiety over the unknown and he was in his comfort zone all summer being at home with me. But just going in and being able to take his time and check it all out, knowing his teacher and having her acknowledge him like she did, being comfortable with knowing where he was going and what to expect, seeing all his friends again, he was able to put some of his fears to rest and he’s ready. Today he walked right into the school like it was no big deal. I know he’ll have a great year!
That’s great that by going to the open house, he was ready for classes to start! I hope he has a great year!