Opening Ceremonies...

Oh my....I knew I had to do a post about Josh starting Kindergarten, but I have so many mix emotions about it all. It has been hard to wrap my brain around what is happening. Four years ago...yes, 4 years ago...I honestly doubted whether or not Josh would go to kindergarten. I know that sounds awfully pessimistic or something, but we were just beginning our road to recovery and there was no roadmap. Josh, even then though, looked at the world differently, always...remember this?? He wasn't saying anything at that point...then, at this time, he had a couple of words and it really all came out as jibber jabber.  It is truly amazing and exhausting to see the leaps and bounds Josh took to be where he is right now. I also have to stop here...and say, thank you to Karen and Trish who now run Believe to Achieve Pediatric Therapy in Belleville, Illinois....You guys set us up for success and for that, I am forever grateful!!!!   And now...this is where Josh is:

Today was the meet and greet for Josh's class. They pretty much go through a shortened day(1.5hrs) with a parent. It was great(minus how it ended, but that's another story...).
Anyways, he picked out what color shirt he wanted to wear. His school, TCA, has uniforms. This alone has taken me awhile to stomach. I don't like uniforms, could never have done this....for one thing, I think in elementary school I wore sweats every day...just changed up the colors. I suppose, that was my own unique uniform! :) Don't worry, I know, this is not about me...it's about Josh.
For Josh, it's no big deal and he's all about them. He can wear either red, navy, green, or white shirts with khaki or navy pants. Oh, here's the fun part...the shirt has to be tucked in the pants... Josh does it, like a rock star!
Let me take a break here from the school part, real quick, just to tell you that my sister, Sarah, came down to hang out with Sam while Josh and I were at his school. They had a wonderful time and she brought presents for both...Here's Josh with his:

Ok..back to school.....

 Following the yellow line... :)

I know these pictures are not the best quality, but I was not about to bring my nice camera and completely overwhelm him. So, I took these real quick while he was just standing in front of his door!

Look at that face....hilarious!

 Ok...so...Mrs. Hoyt, his teacher, had directions printed out on where to put away his supplies and then had the kids fill out a little book. The front page was a place for them to draw a picture of themselves. Next, he was asked to draw a picture of his family. The only reason I have pictures of all this is because he asked me to take them. He drew himself, then me, Eric, and Sam. He couldn't stop laughing because he drew Sam with a frown...He thought it was the funniest thing ever...

Oh...and he told me that he drew himself running :-)

I did not get pictures of all it, obviously. But, he "drew" a dinosaur has his favorite animal, a strawberry as his favorite food, etc...

 The next activity was for the parents to go to the side of the room while Mrs. Hoyt talked with the kids for a minute. They were going to take a class trip to the bathroom so they could practice pushing in their chairs, lining up, walking quietly, etc.

 Isn't he so cute?!?!?!

They came back from that adventure(with shirts tucked in again I might add!) and they had a quick story time which was When You Take a Mouse To School..

The parents were then dismissed to go outside and the class practiced getting their backpacks and lining up to go outside for the end of the day. Josh is about right smack in the middle. 

And, yes, this is when things turned a little teary(for Josh, not me yet.)

Since TCA is a charter school, they do not have a bus system. It is up to the parents to drop-off and pick-up your child. In all honesty, I would do that even if they did have buses. I remember my parents always taking me and loved that they did that for me. I also might not have been awake yet either...but, anyways...again, it's about Josh.... ;)

So, they were letting the parents go to their cars and drive around in the pick up line so that everyone involved...the aids helping line the kids up, the students, the parents, etc could see how it would work. I talked to Josh about what was going to happen...tried to script it out as best I could and he seemed totally cool with it. I was gone for about 10 minutes and when it was my turn and our car pulled up...he was standing in front of Mrs. Hoyt with her arms around him giving him some squeezes...He was in tears...which, lead me to almost be in tears...He was just sad...that's all he said when he got in the car. Mrs. Hoyt handled it  WONDERFULLY! (side note, I had a meeting with her and the school nurse last friday about Josh and some special needs he might have..they were awesome...all his needs are going to be met..including starting the year off with some fidgets, chewy tubes in his cubby for him)...I had to throw that in there so you knew that she and I are on the same page concerning Josh...

Continuing on....he just did not like standing out there and was upset...Mrs. Hoyt told him that we were all learning new things and now we learned that I will park, and be outside waiting for him when he walks out at the end of the day. Other parents do that as well and we wait for them right by the playground(yay for Sam!). 

It ended with her helping him in his booster, giving high fives, and he even gave her a hug...

He really recovered SO QUICKLY...which is what I'm holding onto at the moment. He was able to talk it out...which is great! I also have to add that I think what triggered it was that he's not feeling 100%(there's been smoke, AGAIN, around here and it just doesn't do well for him) and also, his 3 good friends were standing right in front of him with their mom waiting for their dad to pick them up....Honestly, I think he got upset because he thought his mom screwed up! HA! :-) 

All in all, it was a good experience and tomorrow is his first, official day of kindergarten! Seriously????

Oh boy....talk about an adventure....I just thought that the last 4 years were one...now, we are ALL ready to start the next one....I think??? :)

p.s. Here's a Josh quote from today...He wasn't calling it his school's meet and greet...to him...

they were his school's Opening Ceremonies....