Regression

I was so excited for school to start.  To be back in the nice, structured routine that school provides.

Remind me not to think that way again.

The first two days were great.  And then…

• M started staying up later.  And later.
• L suddenly couldn’t get dressed without “help”
• M started sneaking around, getting into stuff she wasn’t supposed to.
• L would sit and rage for two hours instead of doing his homework.

And here’s the thing – school is going GREAT!  L’s actually holding his own in his regular class, M loves her teacher and her friends – its really going much better than I expected.  Until they get home, that is.  Then, they fall apart.

Because even when school is good, it requires a lot of energy and concentration – so they’re spent by the time they get home.  Then, once you factor for that, you still have the fact that going back to school is a significant change to a kid’s routine.  And no matter how positive it is, “change” in and of itself is enough to send our kids into a tizzy.

By the end of the week, there were signs that things were calming down.  L did his homework completely on his own, and M and a full on meltdown that opened up an opportunity for us to talk about how she’s feeling.  But it was yet another reminder to me that I need to both help prepare my kids for changes in their lives, and prepare myself to handle the fallout.