Last Day of School
It was a sort of bitter sweet ending to the school year. Last year, Anthony had been laid off and was able to spend the whole summer with Jayme. This year with both dads working the summer and no Sam living with us, Jayme’s summer plan was filled with day care.
Jayme sees daycare and babysitters as a divine punishment. He does not want to be left alone, but refuses all suggestions of babysitters. This is pretty clear to us as a caregiver issue. Not surprising after all the “stuff” Jayme has had to go through in his short life.
But this issue came to a head two days before the end of school when Jayme found out Anthony would not be coming to field day, the last day of school party that his school throws. The full understanding of what it means for both of his Dad’s working came crashing down on him all at once. Jayme did not handle it well.
Thankfully Joshua was able to take a very long lunch and come out to the field day events with Jayme. Jayme has been a fairly spoiled child when it comes one on one time with the Dad’s something we don’t want to stop.
We started the last day of 2nd grade with a breakfast of blueberry pancakes. Anthony woke early and cooked up a big batch. For the now traditional last day of school photo Jayme dressed up in his blue shirt with the bow tie (bow ties are cool). Photos are not online yet BTW.
For some reason Jayme’s school bus did not show up for the last day, Joshua ended up taking him to school. Something we will have to get used to doing, but more on that later in the post.
Field day
Joshua arrived a few minutes late and arrived to an empty school room. Following the sound of fun, Joshua found the whole school in the back field playing games and having fun. Joshua found Jayme attempting to do a rubber tire let slight shot, (photos online).
Jayme was THRILLED that Joshua had made it to field day. The two of them spent the next hour wandering around doing as many of the events as they could. T-Ball, kicking shoe (which Jayme loved), a kid’s obstacle course and a wet sponge throwing contest.
They ended the day with the mass squirt bottle flight. This proved to be a bit too much for Jayme and his sense of justice. The other kids were all much older and twice his size. They pushed and shoved in a way that Jayme has been so trained not to! Because of this he couldn’t get to the refill barrel of water. With no teachers around to monitor the game, Jayme kind of lost it. Joshua scooped him up and wiped his tears.
This is the second year in a row that Jayme has fallen apart at the end. The stress of change and water bottle injustice was just too much for him.
IEP meeting
Jayme’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting was set for 2 days after the end of school. Both of the dad’s arrived and made our way to the classroom Jayme has been in for the last 2 years. Waiting inside was Jayme’s teacher of two years. After a short chat the remaining members of the team arrived; Jayme’s mainstream 2nd grade teacher and the school psychologist.
We all chatted about Jayme’s progress over the past two years and how everyone felt it was time for Jayme to move full time into a mainstream classroom, but with plenty of outside supports. Jayme would keep his small group math and reading supports. Jayme would no longer be in the behavioral classroom but rather a regular “mainstream” one.
Both of Jayme’s teachers spoke of how well he was doing and how fond they are of him. Clearly Jayme is a little charmer in school.
We did have two set-backs; first we would have to get a school transfer order placed. If Jayme was entering a mainstream classroom the school district would move him back to the school closest to our house. Everyone in the meeting agreed that at least for the time being, it would be best to have Jayme stay put so if there were bumps with the transition he would have teachers and staff around him that know his needs.
The second set back was Jayme would no longer qualify for bus service. This is not a big deal to the dads, but Jayme really likes taking the bus to school. So we don’t know how this is going to play out this fall. Good school bus behavior is one of Jayme’s strengths. But there is no normal school bus route for Jayme’s school in our neighborhood since we are a transfer.
It was also a sad moment as we had to say good-bye to Jayme’s teacher. She was moving out of state to live with her husband who had been transferred earlier in the year. She would not be returning to Jayme’s school in the fall.
But even with the sad goodbyes this was a WONDERFUL way to start the summer. Jayme has come so far in the past two years, it’s amazing how much our little boy has grown and changed.