Friday, September 25, 2009

Life is good . . .

except when it's not. But right now, it's good. No complaints - even when I wake up tired in the morning and need bunches of coffee to make me function.

The boys are soaring. Aidan is loving music therapy. I'm happy that we are meeting some other families who have children with Down syndrome. Kieran and Liam are adapting to their new classes splendidly. Piano lessons for the big boys seem to be going well, and Family Swim Lessons are a hoot. I got my assignment finished for this morning's 8:00 AM deadline, and James is wrapping things up on his Dissertation.

Life's good. :o) :0) :o)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

How many blogs will be entitled "First Day" today?

Yes, it is the day we've all been waiting for. Morning went without a hitch. Packed kids up and dog and set off on our way. James took these pictures:

On our way to school first day!

The morning walk

The school here does things differently than we've experienced in any of our other Provinces. The kids go to their old classroom (last years) for the week. They have a reunion with their teacher and classmates. Do activities. Then at the end of the week they are placed in their new class. This gives the teachers a chance to see how the dynamics are going to work out (there are two forms for each grade here). Also, it does wonders for first-week jitters (for the kids as well as the staff!) I really think it's an interesting way to do things, and as a teacher would love to see my old class that first week of school before sending them off to the next grade. (Pushing them out of the nest, so to speak.)

On another note, our snappy dog Charlie handled the morning hustle and bustle quite well. A lot of families take their dogs to the school during drop-off and pick-up, so I wasn't sure how he'd handle it. He tends to be agressive with other dogs at first - snaps, barks, snarls, growls. Not at all friendly like his lovely owners! But things are getting better I'm happy to say. We'll see how pick-up goes!

Have a great first week of school, Everyone!

Monday, September 7, 2009

A few thoughts on the day

Tomorrow is the first day of school, and I'm planning a run to the library with Aidan to get out some more books (and pay late fees); maybe I'll even make my way to a cafe for a quick coffee.

Aidan, Aidan, What do YOU See?

Aidan is starting Music Therapy tomorrow. I'm very excited for him as I really think he'll love it. I've heard it's a great way to bring all his other therapies together. . . hopefully that will be the case.

I've been trying to find piano lessons for the big boys, but no luck as of yet. We attended a demo class at Music for Young People - and it was a nice cheery place - but James teaches the day Kieran would be in class. The manager said I could leave Liam and Aidan in the play area (which is separated by a curtain) while I attend with Kier. So we tried doing that today. I'll bet you can imagine how that went. Two minutes in and Aidan marched through the curtains clapping and shouting "hooray!" He sat down on the mat next to Kieran and watched the instructor (for about 2 minutes). It was so cute, and I thought, "oh this isn't so bad." Then he was off to play again and I couldn't relax. I couldn't pay attention to Kieran or the instructor. My gut instinct was 'this is not fair to Kieran, Liam or Aidan.' My heart broke when I heard Aidan yelling and went to see Liam doing his best to give Aidan a horsey ride by bouncing him on his knee, "ride a horsey, ride a horsey." "AAAAhhhhh!" I wish I had that on tape.

Friday, September 4, 2009