Happy to Report

Yesterday's trip to school was slightly better than Monday.  He started putting up a real fight once it came time for the shoes to go on and the screaming didn't last long.  By the time we were in the elevator on the way out of our building, he had settled into a steady cry.  Once again, agonizing for everyone, although I'll admit to being slightly amused by the huge yawns interspersed with the tears.  He slept a terrible night, refusing to go to sleep until late in the evening, waking up crying in the middle of the night, then again before the crack of dawn-- up for the day at 5:30.

When we arrived at school, Teacher Tiffany met him at the door and tried to take his hand down the stairs into the schoolroom.  He refused, and wouldn't say hi, though a smile cracked.  Once inside the door, he ran off to go play with his friend Margot on the floor while Nerdy and I were reassured by the teachers that he was fine the previous day once he calmed down.  Apparently, he didn't calm down very easily, which as most of you know, is highly unusual for him and further broke my heart.  Then he was all smiles and gave me and Nerdy big hugs and kisses and a cheery "Goodbye!"

Here I have to commend the teacher who dealt with him: she held him, took him into the bathroom and washed his face with a warm cloth, then when he remained unhappy, she asked him if it would help if she drew a picture of his family. He said yes and she drew a little stick-figure drawing of a little Sasha with a mama close on either side.  He helped draw the sun and other background flourishes. (Maybe.  That's what the teacher told me, but when I asked Sasha if he drew that, he said, "No. Some other kid did.")  Then (apparently*) he asked that it be put on the wall.  It had pride of place as the only thing tacked to the corkboard when I arrived in the afternoon.

*I say "apparently" because I am just now realizing that I will never have a real idea about what goes on at school.  I only get to speak with the teachers for a few minutes every day and Sasha is a brick wall of silence about anything related to school.  When asked-- about snacks, naptime, activities, teachers, friends, etc.-- he only says, "Let's talk about that later."  Like a mantra, "Let's talk about that later."  Finally, Nerdy tried cornering him into an answer, "When's later? At dinner? or tomorrow?" And what does the stinker answer? "Umm... Saturday."  He doesn't even know what that means, but apparently he knows that it's a long enough time into the future that by then we'll forget what it was that we wanted to know.

So when I picked him up in the afternoon, I got one of those heart-melting hugs when he saw me, jumped up, and ran across the room into my arms, yelling "Mamu!"  And the teachers said he was perfectly happy all day.

And this morning, no crying! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, a few tears over the choice of t-shirt, but he walked all the way to school with Mama and a smile, and when he walked in, his new friend Mia ran up to give him a hug and he gave her one right back.