winter

Until now, I have never understood why parents with "special needs" children would choose to homeschool, when social interaction is such a huge part of development and a school setting provides that for their children in a way that staying home can't. While I'm sure I'll eat my words on that opinion at some point throughout Johnny's school career, especially if he isn't getting the services he needs, but I'm actually already starting to understand to a small extent. Johnny hasn't had a full week of school since early November. Things have been so back-and-forth: the school doesn't usually call off until 2 minutes before the bus is supposed to pick him up, (so he goes through the process of getting ready to only have his expectations crushed) the weather has been so insane that even the school district is racking up the snow days, and there has been absolutely zero consistency in Johnny's schedule. As someone who also works best with a regular routine, especially during the winter months, I can't fault the little guy for all of the meltdowns and tantrums that have come as a result. In fact, I think that if I had a way to get him the same level of social interaction at home, I'd have yanked the kid out of school months ago. The back-and-forth is worse than just not having school at all! If he were homeschooled, there would at least always be consistency in his schedule! Granted, I'm not the best at providing that stability because it takes a lot of effort to hold myself to a schedule much less anyone else, but man... I would do just about anything to fix this horrible cycle we're stuck in right now.

Today (Thursday) was Johnny's first day of school since last Tuesday. Not the Tuesday that just happened, the one BEFORE that. I literally had to drag him kicking and screaming out of the house to get him there, because he has decided that school is a horrible thing. Personally, I probably would think the same thing if I was repeatedly promised something and had it repeatedly yanked out of my grasp. "Go to bed, you have school tomorrow!" -- wake up -- "Get ready, you have to go to school!" -- get dressed-- "Wait, just kidding!" I mean really, Steve and I have been trying to plan for the snow that is predicted by preparing Johnny for the possibility that the next day may or may not have school, but it doesn't really do much to help things. Either way, Johnny feels played. It is no wonder that when a school day finally does happen, Johnny doesn't want anything to do with it. The fact that his Valentine's Day class party keeps getting pushed back (supposedly it will finally take place tomorrow) hasn't helped. Each day Johnny wakes asking if he gets to give everyone their Angry Birds Valentines that he has worked so hard on, and each day he is disappointed to find out that no, that isn't going to happen.

I had an appointment with Easterly Parkway Elementary set up for yesterday, but as it was yet another snow day, it has now been rescheduled for the first week of March. I'm anxious to get everything settled on that front! I hate uncertainty, and when it comes to my kid's placement for school, it seems my anxiety is amplified.

Winter sucks. I want to move south.