When I was really struggling about what to do about Michael's previous school, whether to move him or not, I once said to Doug, "what if we move him and the behavior gets so much worse and the new school kicks him out? This school may be being totally unreasonable but they are not kicking him out. I have to go to work. We have a bigger mortgage to pay for."
And Doug looked at me and said, "if we are going to play the what if game, why can't we play a positive one. What if we move him and everything stops and gets better?"
I don't think either one of us really expected either of those extremes to happen. I really didn't think another school would kick him out. Doug really didn't think the bad behavior would just stop, but we needed a school who would handle it better and would stop thinking everything was a sign of some severe disorder. Hey, maybe he was hitting because every time he hit he got boatloads of attention?
Guess what? Doug was right. 3 weeks since the move, and all signs of that horribly behaved child are gone. All reports from the school are good. Not perfect, of course not, he is a four year old boy, but the behavior horror stories I was hearing at the other place, POOF. Like magic.
We have our Child Find appointment this morning. I'm not really sure why we are going, but I applied while everything was going on at the other school because they were so against me applying for early intervention services. And maybe it will help me decide whether to send Michael to public kindergarten or keep him at the new school. Or maybe it will tell me nothing and it will be a waste of a morning.
But it can't hurt. And maybe it will bring me answers. Complete the puzzle. Something.
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Just read through your posts about the old school. Conclusion: the old school sucks ass.
Good luck at your appointment this morning — and by good luck, I mean I hope that you walk out with the feeling that you’ve learned something and now have a much clearer plan in mind about how to proceed. Because that feeling? Worth its weight in gold.
I’m so happy about this new school for Michael! It gives me hope that when we put Nicky back into a school (very soon because Tom is doing an internship this spring) that it will go better than his experience at catholic school last fall.
Glad he is doing well at the new school. It really hard for people to get past their preconceptions/labels. Sometimes you just have to find away to get a fresh start.
Good luck and I agree with your previous comments — fresh new year, fresh new start!
in only 3 weeks. just amazing.
Yay! This is a delightful piece of news. So happy for you both. Good luck with the appointment-no harm in finding out more (or nothing as the case may be) right? Happy 2010!
Hooray! I’m so happy the change has worked for Michael. I think this whole thing will eventually be an amusing anecdote you tell when Michael is graduating magna cum laude from college.