...it IS hard...

...today is just one of those days where I would rather sit on the couch and play a card game on my laptop.  That ain't gonna happen!!!  I try to sneak away and play a game, but that blank blogger screen behind my game won't go away, so I am just going to jump in and do it...

Of all things, Little Man's elementary school was on "external lockdown" because of a shooting (?!?!?) in a nearby neighborhood.  To quote from the email that was sent to parents shortly after the incident, "Law enforcement does not believe that there is an immediate threat to our schools. However, as a precautionary measure, we will be going into exterior lockdown to limit the outside access to students. When schools go into exterior lockdown, school activity goes on as normal inside the building and there is no outside school activity."  This meant that the kids were not able to go to recess or have outdoor PE classes, and it was such a shame because it was a very nice day today.  Little Man did report that they had lunch in their classrooms, which I found interesting.  Luckilly, the students did not notice much change to their regular routine, which is a good thing.  Little Man is very into routine, and when his schedule is changed up he can have difficulty dealing with it.  I talked to him about today's changes, and he had a little difficulty with his afternoon recess (it was indoors as opposed to the outdoor morning recess) and had to visit the Resource Room.  Other than that, he had a pretty good day. 

That all changed when we went to swim lessons. 

For whatever reason, when we got to lessons today, all he wanted to do was play and float in the water, turn his listening ears off and not do a thing his instructor asked him to do.  We had two major meltdowns.  I had to explain to him that the instructor was there to not only teach him how to be a better swimmer, but she was there to keep him safe.  The meltdowns left me exhausted and in tears.  The instructor was so sweet and surprisingly knowledgable about kids on the spectrum (I did not give her enough credit the other day).  It seems that she really wants to work with Little Man and see him succeed.  I filled out the paperwork for his private swim lessons, and his instructor is going to have the woman in charge of their Special Needs Program (forgot the name for it already) observe him in his group class (most likely) on Tuesday.  I am ready for this.  I want him to succeed, and I want him to continue doing something he enjoys.

What most made my day was that a father came up to me after the lesson (I was wiped out and emotionally exhausted after that lesson) and asked me how old Little Man was.  We got to talking, he said he heard me talking with the instructor on Tuesday, and that his 3 1/2 year old son was just diagnosed with Autism.   He just said that it was high functioning, did not go into if it was Asperger's or not, but a lot of his son's characteristics sound like that of Little Man.  He said that watching Little Man gave him hope.  Now that is something that a Mama likes to hear.  It sounds like his son is on the same path of treatments and therapies that Little Man was.  This gave ME hope.  I know we are doing everything we can for Little Man, but to "see" it from another parents eyes kind of cements it.  I know some days are harder than others and we have our ups and downs, but this kind of makes me feel better.

Of course, this father I spoke with did not witness Little Man's two meltdowns (his son has lessons after us).

On to the 30 day blog challenge...

 Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

My Little Man has the greatest impact on me.  I always knew I wanted to be a Mommy, but I never knew I could love someone so much.  He is the greatest joy in my life.  Yes, there are days where I am drained or I want to throw in the towel, but he keeps me going.

Love to All