About Face

Right now I can't believe it just occurred to Chris he wasn't going to school today. Now he's having the mother of all meltdowns, "IWANNAGOTOSCHOOL!!" Um...you're still in your pajamas, and you're Freaking Out! Sorry sweetheart I am not letting you go to school a hot mess. I learned that lesson.

Which brings me back to the latest school report. The last full week of August was a rough one for Chris. After we met with his team, we had such hopes for a great week. He did great, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I went in on Thursday to help volunteer with his class. After I checked in, I walked down the hall happily to his class. I was chased down by the secretary. The Pyschologist wanted to see me.
I went in and saw a picture on her desk with Christopher written on it. Hmm...my Chris? Yes. He's in the next room. He got a red dart (each dart equals a color, and once you get three, you go to the Principal's office) for hitting. Only the principal wasn't there, so he got to spend a lot of time with the Pyschologist. Luckily, this gal is really nice, and on Chris's team, so I'd already got to meet her. However, as she told me what Chris had done that day, I cried too. Apparently, he'd gotten caught kicking someone at lunch, hitting someone at recess, and the last straw was boxing a kid in the eye in art class. He wasn't allowed back in the classroom.
When they brought him in to talk to me, after both of us cried and hugged, I was able to get more explanation. There was a girl at lunch getting up when she wasn't supposed to, so he kicked her to get her to sit down. :) I told him it was a better idea to just let her get into trouble by herself. And at Recess, he was playing Batman and the bad guys. The bad guy turned on him, and pushed him down. But nobody saw that, they just saw Chris get up and hit the kid. Sounds just like so many of my little sister's fights. I tell you Lisa and Chris are full of the same feisty spirit. The last one was during art, when the kid was talking to him, and he just hauled off and hit him.
My best guess was Chris was tired and on edge, and couldn't communicate, that he didn't want to talk to the boy. However, he's not going to make friends hitting and kicking. It hurt my heart. And just the day before kids had been leaning out the bus waving Bye Bye Chris. I never know how he's going to fare at school. And this was a particularly bad day.
It had started when he woke up crying, saying that his tummy hurt, in the middle of the night. He had stayed up a while, and gone back to sleep. Upon waking in the morning, he said he couldn't sit because his bottom hurt. So we called Dr. West, and she recommended doing another Flush before school. Well, after he got off the toilet, he was in rare form, running wild all over the house. He was crazy happy. I figured that was a good sign and I took him off to school.
Turns out it was not a good sign. Crazy happy is still crazy, and when Chris gets crazy, he doesn't listen, and he loses it easy. I should've kept him home. I didn't. I did keep him home today though.
Then he did an entire About Face.
Last week we told him if he could get 5 green smileys he could get something special. We let him pick. He chose a Boys Night In. That means boys stay home, play crazy games, and eat dinner in front of the tv. And Mommy is out. I can dig that. And amazing thing, he did it. He got 5 green smiley faces in a row. We didn't get any letters. I did get one phone call on Thursday, and after my heart stopped, the psychologist told me it was ok, it was good. Good news about Chris! Hot dog. What a happy thing. He had been sitting in circle time, actively participating, and having a great time. They had pulled him out of class for his first meeting of a special small group where they practiced meeting new friends. He did great. I was, and am so proud of him.

But with the huge meltdowns of earlier today, I couldn't justify sending him to school. Because I am finally learning, it's amazing how fast he can go from sweet and kind to a total opposite. I chalk it up to disruptions in routine, or from sleep deprivation. I am glad I let him stay home, he's been unconscious for an hour, allowing me to finally finish this blog.