An Update on My Family!

I’m loving the Summer, much more than I thought I would and at the risk of repeating my story to those who’ve heard it over and over again, I’ll make this super short and then promise to add it to my sidebar within the next few days! Lol
We were homeschooling, but upon a diagnosis of Aspergers (high functioning autism) in my 8 year old son, and many challenges that went unresolved, we made the difficult decision of placing both our kiddos in the local public school system in January. They did awesome! It was their first and only schooling experience outside of the home.

My conclusions are that we have an amazing school and that it stands out as one of the better school districts in the nation. This based on my own observations and the actual rankings of our district as compared to others across the country. At the same time, I have noticed some subtle changes in my children, not all of which are positive. I especially have noticed this in my 6 year old daughter who just completed Kindergarten.

Our Summer has been rich with outings (first Summer we’ve had a car), but it’s also been emotional… a lot of fighting between my kids, a lot more anger in my daughter… a lot of “it’s not fair!” and “I’m bored”. Things I never used to hear. I think that homeschooling had a pace that generally fit being home, while public school with all its structure, stimulation and activity somehow rewired their little brains! Lol Now they almost expect mom to have something planned every moment of the day and when I don’t, well… “I’m bored!” is inevitable.

As for the “it’s not fair”, I think that is something the school instilled in them as well. They are all so much about fairness these days that no one can loose a game or have their feelings hurt in any way whatsoever. Did you know that on field day, they no longer give out ribbons? There are no winners or losers, just games to play and then you walk away to the next game. Where’s the challenge? I guess they don’t believe in that. Lol

Anyhoo, I’m getting off subject here, but basically wanted to report that yes we’ve had to deal with a few changes in how are kids respond to things, including life at home, but generally speaking all else is good. My son made friends for the first time in his life, which is a huge deal for an Aspie. My daughter was much the social butterfly at school and I suspect her boredom is more a reflection of her loneliness that mom is inept at fixing to her liking.

We’re busy these days visiting the movies, usually once a week, a local farm open to the community, and meeting up at our church for play while mom goes to her Bible Study. It’s honestly been too hot to take them outside all that much, with a heat index of 110, it’s just not going to happen!

Well… more to come!