Back to school!

It is Labor Day weekend (and I just typed out Labour and changed it to Labor, don't know how I feel about that!) and we are taking it easy! It's been a whirlwind of a summer, and the last week has been a bit insane getting everyone off to school and trying to figure out after school activities etc. Adam started on Monday, and while he did go into a different classroom, it was pretty much business as usual for him. He was a bit unsettled the first morning but he got back into the swing of things quickly. I was a bit melancholy that day as I thought of how different his first day of Kindergarten was from most kids. No big fanfare, no understanding of what a big step it was, he was just getting back to it after an unfairly short one week break. I am over it now, but I did give myself that day to feel some of the sadness and grief over what isn't when it comes to Adam. He had a great first week back in any case, and his new teacher says he is settling into his new class very well!

While I am on the subject of Adam, I forgot to mention that he had an evaluation at the Seattle Children's Autism Center last week. We talked with someone there for about an hour, just to get another opinion on our care plan for him and look for some insight into some of his behaviors. They are setting up a meeting with a behavior team that could help us deal with some of the ranting and some of the sensory issues that he has. They want me to take some video when he gets upset so they know what they're dealing with. Hopefully they can give us some new tools! Over all I have to say that he has been a lot more mellow since we moved into this house. Every time I pick him up from school I have to reassure that we are going to the "new house" (over and over again) but as long as I tell him we are, he seems to be okay. The last month in the old house was really difficult with him, he may have sensed that a change was coming and feeling some of our stress over the move etc. Oh and have I mentioned that he has transitioned to a total Daddy's boy lately?? Mommy can't do anything for him anymore! Well, unless Daddy gets upset with him for something, then Mommy gets called upon:-S. Brian washes him in the bath, tucks him in at night, is always first choice for jumping on the trampoline (which I don't mind, I get enough of a workout at the gym!). I have on occasion had to call Brian at work to help Adam calm down. Sometimes I just pretend to call him and that seems to be enough (he doesn't actually want to talk to him on the phone, it's strange but just seeing me call him seems to do the trick most of the time!).

Lynsey went back to school on Tuesday! She continues to tell us that she loves school but hates homework, so we just have to try and manage her homework and make it feel like less of a chore. So far it's nothing unreasonable, a half hour of home reading per day, but I know there will be a bit more as the kids get settled in. I just don't want her to get it in her head that it's unmanageable because then it will be so hard to get her to just do it and move on with her day! I'm not even sure if I've mentioned this in previous posts, but she has made some great friends in the neighborhood already. There is a little girl right next door that she hangs out with and two girls in the cul-de-sac across from us. There's been some drama, and it has at times driven me crazy. I think it came to a head on Wednesday when after about the 4th time of doing this that day, she came into the house crying because someone wasn't doing what she wanted them to do. I just about lost my mind. Yes, I practice Positive Discipline, which solidly teaches to empathize with your child's feelings and to help them work through those feelings without squashing them, but I definitely went off script on this day! I told her that she needs to work it out with them, and that if these friends were making her so unhappy she needed to take a break from playing with them. She kept insisting that she wanted to play with her friends. She just can't see that playing with friends means you might have to go for some time without playing what YOU want to play, and just go with the group. Certainly I would never want her to become a pushover that never gets a say in anything, but I think that is a small danger for our daughter at this point. I definitely could have handled the situation better than I did, but perhaps our interaction made some impression on her because there has been no drama brought back to me since! I guess she decided she was better off handling it herself rather than bringing it to her unstable mother haha!:) I know she comes by her big emotions honestly, I definitely have them, too. I just want her to become better at managing than I am, is that so wrong? Maybe we can learn together:).

Update on Lynsey's afterschool activity, she has said she wants to do swim club now. We have tried to tell her that swim club is not the same as going to play in the pool once a week, but she insists that she wants to try it. We are going to get her evaluated to see what level she is and go from there. I suspect they will suggest some more lessons for her before putting her on an actual swim team. Apparently at the place we are going to (Columbia Athletic Club) they do have a non-competitive team that doesn't do swim meets. I think that is a good place for her to start. If she starts and improves quickly and is really interested in taking it further, we will investigate more competitive avenues. Hopefully we will find something that she enjoys and is motivated to go to!

1,2 and 3 - Nathan was off to preschool on Wednesday! He told me the night before that he didn't want to go to preschool. I asked him why, and he says, "because then you will be alone. And you will be sad." Awww my dear baby boy! Such a sweetie! He has done fabulously this week. I get big hugs when I go pick him up but he is fitting in very well at RSA with no separation anxiety at all. Probably going to the childcare at the gym regularly has helped him with being separated from me, and at preschool there is always something to do so he doesn't have time to dwell on missing his Mommy (although apparently he thinks I will miss him more than he misses me which may be true:)). Oh and he started indoor soccer on Tuesday! How adorable is he on that soccer field! He says to me when he comes off the field, "Mom I listened to the teacher!" Haha if he can manage that, that's half the battle! He says he had fun so we'll see how it goes:). He's such a sweet and interesting boy, love seeing his personality come out as he gets older! Have I mentioned that we are in a bit of a bind with his sleep lately? He still needs a nap, but goes to bed so late when he does! Ugh it's the pre-giving-up-nap purgatory and it's not fun! As I type this it's 5:30 and he's just woken up from a 3 hour nap - looks like it's going to be a late one tonight. Might as well make it a movie night:-S.

Can I freely say that I have loved my two mornings off so far?? It's not even that I've just been sitting on my butt and relaxing, because that hasn't actually been the case at all, but I love the quiet of going about doing the grocery shopping and the laundry and cleaning the house with no distractions! I actually turned on some music while I was washing my floor (yes, I am actually making time to wash my floor now, and I didn't even have company coming! What??!!). I am starting a Bible study at my house this Friday morning with my friend Jaqui, two Fridays a month, we'll just hang out and do some study and pray. Not sure how many people will come, but even if it's just Jaqui and I, it will be such a great add to my routine! I have to say that I feel like this is the first fall in a long time that I have felt this light. I feel like I have been in a fog the last several years, with moments of clarity of course, but overall, the heaviness of the hardships in our life and all the change and at times loneliness has gotten the better of me. I feel more like my old self lately, like I have something to give to people - and not just my kids either. I submitted a volunteer form to the church to volunteer with the youth but I haven't heard back yet. We'll see if that pans out! I feel a bit shallow saying this, but I think moving into nicer house was the first step in giving me a brighter outlook on life. This house fits our life so much better, and I have made a real effort so far to keep the house clean which really helps my state of mind. Since our kids were born, I really have let house cleaning fall by the wayside, but now that I am making the effort to take an hour here and there to keep up with just basic cleanliness, I don't feel so overwhelmed by how big a task it is. Who knew that an hour undistracted meant I could clean all the floors in my house! Another 40 minutes and all the bathrooms are totally done! I might even *gasp* pick up a duster once a month! What?? I feel like our house isn't disgusting anymore! My state of mind when I am in a reasonably clean house is miles better. Also, having Nathan out of the house for a few hours in the morning means I am much more likely to sit and play with him when he is around, making our time together a lot more valuable. I have built a lot of Lego in the last week! I know that there are going to be times where I feel that heaviness again, but I can't help but feel like when you have a bit of a better grasp on your life in general, you can handle the stresses and hardships better overall. I know older people always say that you should enjoy the times when your kids are young because it is so "brief", but I can't help but think that for me personally I am coping much better now that they are getting a little older. I took a lot of pictures and did a lot of blog posts, so one day I can look back at the younger years with some rose-colored glasses just like everyone else;).