Tuesday, July 07, 2009

School Days, School Daze!

Now before you think I've gone over the edge completely by writing about School in the early days of July, just because for most kids stateside this is school vacation time, in our house, things don't quite operate that way.

Today was the first day of the abbreviated summer session for Maya and for Kurtis, today was his first day EVER of attending school!

The school program Maya has been enrolled in for the past two years now has this shortened summer session so for her, it was a return to school.

But Kurtis is now eligible for the same type program that Maya has been in and for him, this was his new beginning.

Maya's hours this summer are from 9 a.m. until 12:30 and Kurt's school hours are from noon until 3:30 p.m. So, the van for Maya arrives around 8:30 a.m. to pick her up and then, another van comes around 11:20-11:25 to pick up Kurtis.

Maya was almost four years old when she started attending this school and her vocabulary, her comprehension of a lot of things by that time of her life was a lot better than is Kurt's right now. But then he is just a little over 3 years old too -won't be 4 until next April, so that's pretty much self-explanatory then the differences in understanding that each had of the idea of going to school.

So this morning when it was time for Kurtis to get in the van, Mandy and I were both a little concerned as to how that would go since he's not really gone any where before that one of us wasn't with him.

When the van pulled up out front and Maya told him to come on, time to go, etc., all of a sudden he pulled one of his little tantrums on us -jumping up, with a rapid descent to the floor on his butt, rolling around a bit and crying and both of us were thinking the same thing then. Oh no! We're gonna have to drag him, kicking and screaming out of the house and to the van to get him off to school.

To our surprise -and a very pleasant surprise it was too -his tantrum lasted about 10, maybe 20 seconds tops and then, he reverted to his nice, sweet and very sociable self, walking out the door holding Mandy's hand and all smiles as she put him in his seat in the van. He had his comfort items with him too -his bear-bear pillow and his little etch-a-sketch toy (which he dearly loves) and here's a couple of pictures we got of him to prove I'm not fibbing to you about how happy he was as he was getting ready to leave home.
Kurtis, waiting inside the front door for the van to show up.

Kurts, all strapped in, with his special bear pillow and his etch-a-sketch -necessities of life, ya know.
Seems like he's telling me "See you later, Gram . If Mom would hurry and get this camera out of my face, we could get going though."
Ok, Valerie (the driver), we're ready to roll now!

Before he got home from school, Mandy had already had at least three phone calls about how things went today for Kurtis. Renee, his former TSS and who is now the behavior specialist who supervises both Maya and Kurt's cases, called to say he was doing fine. Then, Kerri, the teacher, called and told Mandy that he had eaten a meatball and something else at lunch plus, he had his drink in a cup and had drunk out of it. Now that was quite the accomplishment for him since we just got him to switch over from a bottle to a sippy cup about 2 months ago! She also said he didn't want to sit down and preferred to wander about the room but that was no big surprise to us. He tends to be that way at home too. LOL And then, finally -a call from Sam -his TSS -who said he did very well today. "Much better that I expected" were her words to Mandy.

And yes, it was much better by far than we expected too but boy, how great it was to hear that he did so well, had begun to acclimate to these new surroundings and doing it fairly easily too. Couldn't ask for anything more than that, now could we?

And, I have a Maya-ism for you today too.

Sunday afternoon, Mandy took both kids up to the home of her best friend, Jen-Jen for them to spend the afternoon with Jen and her family -those three teen/preteens who love to spoil Maya rotten! (Just kidding, Jen. We ALL really do appreciate that Curtis, Gabby and Emmy love to have Maya -and now Kurtis too -come and visit!)

Anyway, Maya had apparently been giving Jen-Jen a bit of guff -yes, she likes to dish it out from time to time -and Jen had told her, "Maya, you are going to drive your mother to the funny farm."

And Maya's response to that -"No, she will drive herself."

That's the end of that discussion and also, the end of this little post about Kurtis and his first day at school.
Who would have thought a year ago, when he had no vocabulary at all, was very standoffish too most of the time around anyone but immediate family, that this little guy would have come so far in that short period of time.


Aint' life just grand though?

17 comments:

Keith said...

What a cutie Kurtis is and I am very happy to hear that his FIRST day in school was successful. Way to go Kurtis. You should be very proud as I know that your mom and grandma are. ;-)

Peace!
Keith

Maggie May said...

That sounds a great little summer school for Curtis to go to as you know he is in safe hands and that he will be having a good time.

RazorFamilyFarms.com said...

I wanted to thank you for your lovely comment on my site. I'm continually amazed that people still read my site because I have been so bad about commenting (but I do still read everyones blogs on my iGoogle reader thingie).

By some miracle, you have hung in there with me even though I have been a rotten blogging friend -- thank you. Thank you for your kindness and support. I cannot tell you what it means to me or how comforted I am while reading your thoughtful and reassuring words.

Blessings and thanks, my friend.

As ever,
Lacy

Woman in a Window said...

Yes, life most certainly is. It's always those good surprises that keep us looking forward to the next.

Sandee said...

I'm glad Kurtis had a great first day of school. Wonderful.

As for the quick comeback from Maya? You go girl.

Have a terrific day. Big hug. :)

fermicat said...

This seems awfully late for a school session to begin, but I can't make heads or tails of the school schedules now. Very different than what I grew up with, for sure!

none said...

My girls qualified for a similar program with speech therapy included. It really helped them get used to school and structure.

Glad your little ones did so well.

First day of school is about as scary for the adult as it is for the child.

Berni said...

Wonderful that Kurtis is coming out of himself a bit and enjoying school and I am sure Maya is right we all drive ourselves to the funny farm really not anyone elses fault.

Mrs4444 said...

Why, I'm a frequent visitor to The Funny Farm; it's a short trip some days, let me tell you! :)

Sandi McBride said...

OH WOW, Kurtis in school and loving it...that's how it seems, lucky for all! Now, you try to relax and have a little you time! That Maya, she is a cracker that one is! Hugs to them both!!!
and of course hugs to you
Sandi
ps
my word moderation for today is
healin
believe it or not!

... Paige said...

I'm gald you have a good school district and school to work with.

I'm feeling a little 8itchy today, sorry... Special needs, we had to fight and still find ourselves fighting to get basic education for our youngest daughter.
Now that she is approaching the "legal age" they (the school) are very excited to tell her repeatedly how she can and will make her own choices.
Aren't they the kindest folks, they can't wait for her to stop comming to school.

Betsy Brock said...

Soumds like he did just great for the first day! What a cutie he is!

terri said...

It's so good to hear that Kurtis did so well with his first day of school. I have to admit, while reading the beginning of this post, I wasn't sure things were going to go in the right direction!

Jocelyn said...

YAAAAAAY, Kurtis! What a wonderful day (and how cool that he got over his tantrum...I mean, really, what kid gets over a tantrum so fast?). I'm so excited for your whole household.

And I love the yellow pillow. I need one, too.

Travis Cody said...

Sounds like the little guy did ok.

Morgan Mandel said...

I've seen some back to school sales already at Walmart. I like the back to school sales, since there are many writers' items I can stock up on then.

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Mary said...

Jeni,

Kurtis is amazing. He's come a long way since you and I met. He is going to continue to do well. Autistic children are amazing and they teach us so much. Glad the day went smoothly.

Have a great week.

Blessings,
Mary