First Day, First Grade

Well, it was a good morning, with a bit of last minute opposition thrown in for good measure. He got up on time (yay!), ate a full breakfast (wow) took his medicine, and got dressed with a little help/strong encouragement from me. He chose his Birthday Florida Gators shirt to wear, and even put on a necklace and cologne. Complained his shoes were too tight, I retied them and all was well. Teeth brushed, then a fight over combing his too-long-but-letting-him-have-a-choice- hair...



("It's MY hair mom, not yours...I can do what I want with it!") which means raking a comb over his hair with two strokes... sigh

Backpack and supplies gathered up and out the door. At first, he refused to have a picture taken




so we got in the car. I've learned to pick my battles first thing in the morning. We had to park nearly a quarter of a mile from school, and walk the rest of the way as cars had over-filled the parking lot and spilled out down the main entrance roadside.

No problem walking plus gave us time to talk a bit, and Dallas was super excited that he was getting to finally "walk to school". Excited enough that he let me take a picture and he was grinning.

We saw a dead flounder in the creek along that way and that was a distraction off our destination for a few minutes... and I stepped in dog poop which was terribly funny to him. :-/

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Once in school, we walked to his classroom and he found his desk and sat right down. No time for much lingering for parents, plus he was back to refusing to have his picture taken. I did it anyway. He was a peeved.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

A little silent drama over that, then a hug (no mom kisses as that's too "embarrassing"), and I told him I loved him and walked away. He really seemed to be OK.

The anxiety and stress was obvious to me, but not nearly what I had expected. He did very, very well! It was one of the easiest school mornings and transitions we've ever had! Go Dallas!

Here's hoping he had a great first day!

***Edited at 10:45 pm to say YES! Yes he DID have a great day! No ADHD meds all day, good behavior, a great day (to hear him tell it) and then right from school off to OT for an hour, and he did great there as well and was able to sit still and focus on his tedious and challenging puzzle tasks way past the 10 minutes that was expected of him. His OT was just praising and praising him. I was so proud of all he accomplished today, we went by McDonald's on the way home to treat him to an ice cream sundae and some playland time before going home. Tonight he ate a great dinner, showered all on his own, followed directions, and went to bed ON TIME with no fight... Just a few BRIEF moments of meltiness here and there, but quickly self-diffused by Dallas himself, and immediately apologetic. Tonight as I put him to bed and read a story, I snuggled with him, and told him how darn proud I was of him, and how much I love him. He was already half-asleep in my arms. It feels NORMAL around here. Today anyway...

I think I must be dreaming! :-)