Tonic for a Parent's Heart

Tuesday was Sam's first day back at school. He came home very happy and sang us a new song he'd apparently learned that day, something about grape juice (the only words we can make out are "grape juice" and "go go go...mmmm juice!"). Wednesday morning the first words out of his mouth were "I want school!"

He's in the same class with the same teacher he had last year. She's wonderful...very committed to the kids and runs a very structured and predictable day, which these kids really need and rely on. They know the routines and know what comes next, which makes transitioning between activities much easier. After so much craziness and upheaval and teachers who didn't "get" him (we still refer to his pre-school teacher as Frau Blucher) or who had nervous breakdowns halfway through the school year (his first year of kindergarten) it's such a relief for him to be in a classroom setting that really seems to be working for him. It's such a crapshoot with Special Ed; you don't have a lot to choose from, and you're at the mercy of the district hiring and staffing. The district won't give you much information about the experience and background of the teachers, and sometimes won't even tell you until a few days before school who youf kid's teacher will be. But we got lucky last year and this and for that I'm grateful.