Jonas had a very rough morning today. He's been sick, which always makes him more emotional. When it came time to get ready for school today, he got very upset, started crying and said he felt sick to his stomach. He had been fine for the entire hour leading up to that moment so I figured that there must be something else going on. He's missed a couple of days of school over the past week, so my first inclination was that he just wanted to stay home. As his sobbing increased I started to think that it was more than that.
I snuggled up with him in our big comfy chair and asked him if there was a reason he didn't want to go to school. He got even more emotional and said, in one barely intelligable, run-on sentance, that
"We'vebeendoingspecialstuffeveryFridaywithatotallydifferentteacherandIforgottomorrowisaPDdayandIdon'tknowwhatI'msupposedtobedoingtodayorwhatteacherorwhereI'msupposedtogoorifIneedtobringanythingforit!"
Thankfully I knew what he was talking about. They've had electives on the past two Fridays, where they sign up for a fun activity that interests them. Tomorrow is a P.A. day so his assumption was that today was elective day and he was panicked because he wasn't prepared. I gave him a huge hug and told him not to worry. We could go to school early and talk to his teacher and find out what's going on. If he needed anything, I would go get it and bring it back to the school for him. He still wasn't convinced but got dressed and went with me to the school, still crying, but without having to be dragged.
Enter Mrs. G. Super Teacher and fellow ADHD parent. She was worried too because that reaction is so out of character. He gets emotional but nothing on the scale of what we saw this morning. Once she heard the story, she said that she thought he was legitimately upset about not knowing what was happening today. He does much better when he's got a predictable routine and gets nervous when he doesn't know what to expect. Apparently he forgot his bring from home stuff on the first day he needed them, and he's determinded not to let that happen again.
The electives program is over so he doesn't need to try to remember it anymore, but she's going to pay a little extra attention to make sure that he knows what's coming in terms of his schedule. We both gave him a bog hug and reminded him that we're all here to help him. All he has to do is let us know when something is bothering him. He got a huge smile on his face, grabbed his agenda and headed off to class, red-eyed but clearly relieved.
On a side note, Mrs. G says he's been having a great week. He's doing VERY well in his reading and math. He's at a solid level 29 in reading and only needs to be at 30 by the end of the year! He's also been being very helpful and caring of his classmates. She says she's commended him several times this week for both academics and social, and also because he's been showing more signs of forethought lately. He's starting to think about consequences a little bit before they're upon him. Even though it's last minute, he's starting to proactively take responsibility for avoiding them. It may seem like a small thing to some but, trust me, it's a pretty huge and cool development!
Cheers!
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