Release of Breath

This morning, I went to meeting at school about Sammy.  This isn’t the first such meeting, and it won’t be the last, so I know how things work.  But, me being me, I always get at least a little nervous that I’ll be blindsided with something and I’ll end up in tears (it’s happened before).

End of story first: that didn’t happen.  Far from it.  In fact, I dare say this is the best meeting I’ve ever had about my son.  Everything was about how well he’s doing this year – improved attention, more engagement, better socializing, amped-up confidence, new skills demonstrated.  It was fantastic.  When the routine question about behavior problems was asked, everyone in the room said there were none.  Yes, he still has challenges.  Yes, he’s quirky, hard to focus, and sometimes overly enthusiastic to the point of loud.  But they understand him better and they understand how to work with him better.  They have been learned, and consequently, he has been learning.  I mean, they showed me how he voluntarily took notes on a video (he wasn’t told to do so) using complete sentences and proper punctuation.  Man.  Wow.

It’s clear his teacher is a much better fit for him.  She told me straight out that his issues and idiosyncrasies don’t bother her and that she thinks he is a smart, eager to learn little boy.  This is so different from his teacher last year would list his non-normal habits and behaviors as if ticking off items in her garbage can.  It didn’t realize how bad that made me feel, both for Sammy and as his mom, until I didn’t hear that kind of thing anymore.  I can finally exhale.

I know we all have a long road to go, but we can see where we’re headed for the first time.  I’m sure the course will change and we’ll get lost along the way, but we’re moving forward, and that feels amazing.