For your entertainment, here are the before and after porch photos...
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
They're both definitely taller! Presumably they've learned a ton and become better people. They both had great teachers. Jacob wasn't sure about his at the beginning of the year (as usual), but once he got used to his sense of humor (and realized he hit the jackpot with very little homework), he loved his teacher. Carter had a bit of an up-and-down year, but I think his teacher was a great fit and his report card was mostly good--just a couple things to work on. Jacob's was probably his best yet academically, with maybe one thing he needs improvement in.
In true mom fashion I snapped a picture of Jacob walking into elementary school for the last time. Next year is going to be a complete change--early wakeups for him taking the bus, a bigger school, new friends, a different class setup, uniforms, and so much more--so I'm trying to savor our last bit of normalcy before all of that comes flying at us in the fall.
I actually got a little emotional in the car after this as I drove to work, because I started thinking about his first day of Kindergarten and where we were at emotionally the day we sent him off on the bus for the first time.
It was such a difficult phase for us, possibly the hardest time of my life, as he was in the early stages of his meltdowns and we just didn't know what was going on with him. We were a mere couple weeks away from the out-of-the-blue, probable Celiac diagnosis--and oh yeah, Carter was showing signs of a rice intolerance at that point, so I was just a giant mess all around. I felt like everything was spiraling out of control, and on top of it I had to send my kid off to school. Thank God he'd already been in daycare for years, because the physical separation and socialization weren't really an issue like they would be for some parents, but knowing I was sending my kid with serious behavioral concerns into a new classroom setting, where there would be pressure on him to learn at a pace he was unaccustomed to, was absolutely terrifying. Not all of my concerns were unjustified, clearly, as we had a very tumultuous year, but it really struck me Wednesday that his last day of elementary school sort of bookended a very difficult period for us. Things are still hard, in different ways, but certainly not as traumatic as they were then. Whether that's because things have calmed down or because we just got used to the challenge, I'm honestly not sure. Probably a little of both, if I'm being honest. Kindergarten really did mark the "official" beginning to a lot of the challenges we've faced, if only because teacher concerns drove us to start evaluations to actually determine what was up. We actually started therapy prior to school, out of sheer desperation, but hearing other people have so many concerns (as the daycare staff never really raised alarm--they just knew him and "got" him) really solidified the battle we had to fight. Almost six years later, we've been through three different rounds of therapy, three years of medication, and way too many sibling battles to count. Through it all Jacob has continued to do well academically, and by all indications he's just a regular kid...so I guess that should be counted as a win, right? Regardless, we've come a long way, and Wednesday really brought that into focus.
So, now summer has begun. Finally. The weather was late, the end of school was late, and suddenly the kids are done, it's 87 degrees out, and the 4th of July is less than a week away. And oh, we have vacation next week and haven't planned it yet. Probably no passport, so it appears it will be stateside somewhere. Jacob started camp yesterday, and Carter starts back at his old daycare on Monday. One less lunch to pack for the next 10 weeks, and one added passenger for my daily commute. Our new normal starts now. We don't have a lot of plans, but hopefully we'll have a great summer nonetheless!
No comments:
Post a Comment