I love your brain

The start of school means the end of summer despite the temperatures hitting over 105 degrees in the Valley where we live.  The boy returns to school on Monday.  He’ll be starting the 5th grade.  I had a flash this morning while unloading my drycleaning of him nestled in the baby bjorn smiling at the drycleaner while I did the same unloading eight or nine years ago.  Nothing made me happier than to have him with me in the bjorn.  I kept in it until his feet practically touched the ground.  I couldn’t bear to not have him so close…

Monday he’ll be a 5th grader.  Big man on campus in the elementary school.  Still doing his best to maintain his status as the unofficial welcoming committee to the school.  He has managed the art of providing comfort and security to new students, younger students, and troubled friends.  He’s proven to all that he’s a good, caring friend, who can laugh with the best of them, and make the best of them laugh.  All without saying a literal word.  He’s amazing.

The big curiosity is who will be in his class.  All of the kids are desperate to know which teacher they have and more importantly which friends will be in their class.  We know the boy’s teacher so his interest in the classmates.  One of his girl friends told him recently that she hopes her class is all girls and only one boy, him.  She said, because you are magnicificent!  He beamed.  It’s his new favorite word, along with “zucchini”. 

We have a team meeting this week, before school even starts, which makes me feel very positive about the direction this school year will take.  He’s got a new gait trainer waiting for him that provides better head support so that he’ll be able to walk more purposefully and hopefully for longer periods of time.  Perhaps he’ll even be able to play baseball in it!  He’s going to be trying some new communication devices – an eye gaze voice output, and a couple of others, in search of the best device to enable him to “talk” as quickly as he thinks.  Starting out with a team meeting before school even starts will make the transition smoother and give the boy an opportunity to check out his class and new teacher.  It’s exciting, and even more so, encouraging.