School Days, School Days

The boys have started a brand new year at school. Ethan has a new school (Lydiksen Elementary) and all new teachers and aides and a curriculum that is much like a regular first grade. Dylan is in a new class room at Vintage Hills, with a new teacher and all new aides and a curriculum that's similar to last year's but a grade up. Tod took Ethan to school this morning and said Ethan seemed stunned, but was going with the flow and had started coloring his envelope (envelope for what, I don't know). Dylan started saying "no, no" as soon as I stopped the van in the drive way at school. An aide came to help him into the classroom but Dylan tried to get back in the van and push me in with him. I didn't see any tears or meltdown behavior as I drove away... not from Dylan anyway, I was a wreck. When school is done I will pick Ethan up instead of him riding the bus as we had planned. It is an 1-1/2 bus trip for a 10 minute car ride. There's no way my 6 y/o autistic child will sit on the bus for that long. I will be calling the bus co. when I am done with this post. Dylan, alas, will be riding the bus and I hope he does ok with that. He has been used to me being there everyday when school is done.
And so starts the first day of another school year.

Tod and I are still limping along. My kidney pain is worse than ever and I can't wait for Friday when they blast these stones apart. Tod's back is better, but he keeps rehurting it trying to make up for the slack of me either being in excrutiating pain or drugged to the gills or both. Plus the boys have been particularly rowdy and winy. We pretty much just get as little done as we can get away with and then both of us collapse in a fetal position. I'm interviewing a new respite worked this after noon. Maybe she can pick up the slack. But I digress, my point is to apologize to everyone we've neglected while we're crippled up. I've not kept up with emails, birthdays, anniversaries, phone calls. It should get better soon. I'm trying my best to keep the blog up to date so you can at least check in and see that we're alive.

til later....