Monday 31 August 2009

Milestone Mania

His enthusiasm caught me off guard. I had grown accustomed to his refusals. His default negative responses when faced with any mention of the word school. "Bye Bye School" had been the catch phrase of the last few weeks. Rory's like that though, he just says no to everything; just in case.

This morning when I crept in to give him is 7.30am feed and meds, he was still bundled under the blankets snuggling up to bear. I worked away at his tube, able to carry on without disturbing him. His eyes opened, just a crack, he took in the light grey morning sneaking in between the curtains. He sat up, and announced, "I'm going to school today". This was a promising start. I thought it best not to rush him so I let him have a little lie in, a few moments to contemplate his new educational fate.

We busied ourselves with the usual morning routine, uniforms were donned, toast was crunched and caffeine was administered in strong doses to the grown ups.

His regulation grey trousers were proffered, and accepted, along with the grey shirt and school jumper, which he had previously deemed to be too 'scratchy'. All were put on without so much as grunt of protest.

I had expected, if not an all out battle, at the very least some very vocal objection, none were forthcoming. He was positively jovial at the thought of the uniform. He completely blind sided me, with his cheerful acquiescence. The lump in my throat came on very suddenly and before I could swallow it down, the tell-tale brimming of the lower eyelids began. I could feel a full scale wobble coming on. It seemed completely disproportionate to the situation as Captain Sensible, just popped on his shoes and asked for his Madagascar school bag. Fair enough, the kid was going to play it cool!

We snapped the obligatory photos, the kids chuckled and off we went.

Simple as that.

The entry to the class was equally low key. He sauntered in like he owned the joint. Charmed his teacher and Special Needs Assistant.

"Slan, Chickenlicken, see ya later" was the last I heard as I rushed out the door - the fear of making a complete show of myself was now even more acute. I had one aim, get past the school gate without making eye contact with any other parent.

I hadn't allowed myself to imagine this day, it seemed far too presumptuous. Now that it's here; all nonchalance and normal, I don't quite know what to do with myself!

It has taken us six years to come from this :















To this :












Sometimes the enormity of normal just knocks the stuffing out of me!

Cheers,

Ann

7 comments:

Book Hag said...

Enjoy it! First days are so hard but this is what you have been working so hard to achieve - normality!
Sx

steph said...

Hats off to Captain Sensible for playing it so cool!

"He sauntered in like he owned the joint"... I LIKE his style!

I also like Rory's technique of saying NO to everything... just in case! LOL

Big sister deserves full marks as well for being so proud and caring.

I hope Day 2 goes just as smoothly.

Triona said...

Congrats to Rory for taking such a monumental day in his stride.

Ann, I hope you will fathom your own return to education with the same style!

Triona

AnnB said...

Thanks Sharon, these milestones can be over whelming at times, good job captain sensible is so cool, he keeps our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Well Steph, Day two is just over and went even better than day one... who knows this could be the start of something big? Big sis is still beaming too!

Hey Triona, nice to hear from you, not sure I'll be as brave when I meet my new classmates on Fri. Here's hoping!

Tamara McDonough said...

Just amazing, Ann! You had me weeping with joy at the breakfast table. I am so thrilled for Rory and all of you. We look forward to hearing the schoolday adventures of Captain Sensible...

with much love,
Tamara

Unknown said...

Great Post. Wishing all the students in your house, all the best!

AnnB said...

Hey Tamara, great to hear from you. Lets hope the cap'in's educational odyssey doesn't run aground before he gets the chance to really charm his classmates!

Thanks Lily, we students are working very hard to adjust to the latest chapter in our lives!