As you all know, we have been having soooo much fun this summer. Greyson and I swim alot at the pool but we have also done other stuff as well. Some days are just "stay at home" days and he plays LEGO'S, watches TV and just chills in his room. On Friday we got to go play with Ms Suzy and a group of kids at her house. Greyson was very excited. They made cupcakes, decorated them themselves, and then jumped on the trampoline with the hose on to relieve this unbelievable heat. I stayed and hung out too and it was so much fun. We love Ms Suzy. She was his second grade teacher and was a blessing for him. After we got done at Ms Suzy's house we headed straight to the swim club to swim a while with his newly found buddy Samuel. Greyson has had a time making new friends at the pool. He was doing his usual "stalking" of some older boys there, following them everywhere, yet never talking. He just listens to, and laughs at, everything they say following along trying desperately to fit in. He hasn't the social skills to do this effectively and it can be painful to watch. I see that they are thinking he is different and somewhat strange but he is clueless to their observations and reactions to him. I no longer allow him to follow along because of this. If he can;t protect himself...then damn it, I will. He met Samuel thank goodness who can at times also be a target for the cruelties of children and so they have been playing at the pool. So....we played at the pool with his buddy Samuel until 5pm. After that we headed home to change and then back out to Sonic for "Silly band night". We met Samuel and his family there and he had a blast there trading silly bands and eating his cheese burger. He was sooooo tired that day. He was pitiful once we got home and crashed immediately. Thank goodness too. Michele had to go out of town and had he not been sooooo tired he would have been balling that he missed her. He wasn't even able to be upset he fell asleep so fast. Saturday we went to a friends birthday party and had fun in their pool. We were there all day playing, eating, and playing some more. Greyson was doing great with the other kids until the end of the night. Things got a little too rough and some of the other kids got carried away. They were playing some animal game and Greyson ended up getting whacked with some plastic swords . He ran to me balling. He had been hit pretty hard because he had a welt on his arm so needless to say, several of the kids got a stern talking to from their moms. Poor guy. He was sooooo upset so we went ahead and left. Overall it was a great time and a great day. I think the main thing that I keep realizing in all of this is that no matter what, kids are going to see him as different. They may or may not realize it but he always is outside the group to some degree. Kids instinctively know this with any child who doesn't fall into that "norm". We always have to watch a little more closely to ensure things aren't turning ugly when he is with a group. Not that they intentionally do that necessarily but it does happen whether intentionally or not and things at that point can go south quickly. Worse is the feeling that it will only become more and more complicated as he gets older. He has to learn to protect himself, and we can't keep him in a bubble, but we do need to monitor situations and him closely. There is a fine line there for sure. His independence and being able to handle situations himself with us remaining just far enough away to help if need be. It continues to add to my craziness. Teaching him life skills and independence comes in slow steps. We move forward some and back some in hopes of moving forward more times than back. As summer winds down we keep stepping. Stepping until we reach 4th grade. I dread it to some degree because school is such an adjustment for him. New teacher, new room, new friends with some old mixed in, and so on. It can take up until Christmas for him to adjust and get into a comfort zone. the good news is he should have the same teacher for both 4th & 5th grades making life and transition into 5th grade hopefully easier. He has excelled so this summer. I think having NO school is such a relief for him and he is in such a better place during that time of year. For now...we will cherish the summer and what it holds for him and take school one day at a time once it comes. Summer, friend of Greyson,...please don't go soooo soon!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Summer 2010 continued...
As you all know, we have been having soooo much fun this summer. Greyson and I swim alot at the pool but we have also done other stuff as well. Some days are just "stay at home" days and he plays LEGO'S, watches TV and just chills in his room. On Friday we got to go play with Ms Suzy and a group of kids at her house. Greyson was very excited. They made cupcakes, decorated them themselves, and then jumped on the trampoline with the hose on to relieve this unbelievable heat. I stayed and hung out too and it was so much fun. We love Ms Suzy. She was his second grade teacher and was a blessing for him. After we got done at Ms Suzy's house we headed straight to the swim club to swim a while with his newly found buddy Samuel. Greyson has had a time making new friends at the pool. He was doing his usual "stalking" of some older boys there, following them everywhere, yet never talking. He just listens to, and laughs at, everything they say following along trying desperately to fit in. He hasn't the social skills to do this effectively and it can be painful to watch. I see that they are thinking he is different and somewhat strange but he is clueless to their observations and reactions to him. I no longer allow him to follow along because of this. If he can;t protect himself...then damn it, I will. He met Samuel thank goodness who can at times also be a target for the cruelties of children and so they have been playing at the pool. So....we played at the pool with his buddy Samuel until 5pm. After that we headed home to change and then back out to Sonic for "Silly band night". We met Samuel and his family there and he had a blast there trading silly bands and eating his cheese burger. He was sooooo tired that day. He was pitiful once we got home and crashed immediately. Thank goodness too. Michele had to go out of town and had he not been sooooo tired he would have been balling that he missed her. He wasn't even able to be upset he fell asleep so fast. Saturday we went to a friends birthday party and had fun in their pool. We were there all day playing, eating, and playing some more. Greyson was doing great with the other kids until the end of the night. Things got a little too rough and some of the other kids got carried away. They were playing some animal game and Greyson ended up getting whacked with some plastic swords . He ran to me balling. He had been hit pretty hard because he had a welt on his arm so needless to say, several of the kids got a stern talking to from their moms. Poor guy. He was sooooo upset so we went ahead and left. Overall it was a great time and a great day. I think the main thing that I keep realizing in all of this is that no matter what, kids are going to see him as different. They may or may not realize it but he always is outside the group to some degree. Kids instinctively know this with any child who doesn't fall into that "norm". We always have to watch a little more closely to ensure things aren't turning ugly when he is with a group. Not that they intentionally do that necessarily but it does happen whether intentionally or not and things at that point can go south quickly. Worse is the feeling that it will only become more and more complicated as he gets older. He has to learn to protect himself, and we can't keep him in a bubble, but we do need to monitor situations and him closely. There is a fine line there for sure. His independence and being able to handle situations himself with us remaining just far enough away to help if need be. It continues to add to my craziness. Teaching him life skills and independence comes in slow steps. We move forward some and back some in hopes of moving forward more times than back. As summer winds down we keep stepping. Stepping until we reach 4th grade. I dread it to some degree because school is such an adjustment for him. New teacher, new room, new friends with some old mixed in, and so on. It can take up until Christmas for him to adjust and get into a comfort zone. the good news is he should have the same teacher for both 4th & 5th grades making life and transition into 5th grade hopefully easier. He has excelled so this summer. I think having NO school is such a relief for him and he is in such a better place during that time of year. For now...we will cherish the summer and what it holds for him and take school one day at a time once it comes. Summer, friend of Greyson,...please don't go soooo soon!
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1 comment:
oh i know...i do not want summer to end either. but i have a feeling in my heart that things are going to be ok this year. it's got to be a good year. there's no other choice.
WE MUST MAKE IT A GOOD YEAR LYNN!!!! WE HAVE TO!
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