Changing the plan

I was supposed to have some time this fall. To be exact, about three hours, twice a week. I had plans for that time. I was going to make Halloween costumes. I was going to make Christma decorations. I was going to clean things, organize things, and drink a lot more chai with Christina.

Once again, we have not landed the plane in Italy. Andy is not in school. The only places that will take him are places I can't afford. Daycares will only do full-time slots, even if you don't ant a full-time slot. Preschools want teh kids "fully potty trained", meaning fully independant in the bathroom. They also apparently want kids to already have school social skills, like sharing, taking turns, and standing in lines or sitting in circles. So no school this year. I signed Andy up at the rec center, most of which starts in November now, and all is Mommy-and-me style. He'll be the oldest kid in most of it.

The few friends I have with "normal" kids are going out for coffee. They are comparing school experiences. They are showing off the crafts their kids make at school. I bet their houses are clean. I run into them here and there, and they tell me all about it. Some of them were even in school last year. They are learning their ABCs and their numbers and colors and how to play with playdoh and color pictures and use the scissors and glue. And moms are going shopping, and making crafts for the craft fair, and baking and cleaning and calling their friends and going to yoga classes and aerobics classes and pottery classes and knitting classes. I am definitely not in Italy.

And while they are going on, and clucking sympathetically when I say Andy is not in school anymore, I am thinking: Guess what I did Tuesday, instead of sending Andy to school? (Note: they never ask.)

I took Andy to the gym, where he played with other boys and girls (so what if most of them weren't his age? Not Andy). Then we went to the pumpkin patch and played with the chickens and llamas and horses and saw baby calves and picked pumpkins. Then we went to lunch at a resteraunt. Andy ordered his lunch and we talked about all the posters on the walls, and practiced using a fork to eat the ketchup (well, at least he ate something...) Then we rested at home a little until we had to go get Joey for speech therapy and OT. We got home tired, but we had FUN!!!

And today we went to the park- the kids were all younger again, but Andy didn't mind- and we played ball and collected acorns and Andy went down the slides. There was a spider there, and we talked about spiders and living things and how green and pretty he (she?) was. Then we had McDonald's for lunch, and Andy had speech. He made a spider. He's mastered his first goal (labials)! Now we're resting a little, before I pull out another art project- maybe we'll make a book about fall!

And there is the trade-off. I'll figure out how to make Joey's costume, and the house cleaning will wait for me (it always does). I'll call Christina. Maybe she can come over here one morning to have chai. I may not be in Italy- but Greece is nice, too.