A Bump in the Road

Ah, yes, you know it is going to be a long afternoon when you arrive to pick up your son, and your usually cheerful aide comes around the corner and gives you The Look. It isn't a frown, really, but it definitely is not a smile, and you know its bad when you see it. Joey bopped around the corner, asking for sandals. His feet are too hot in shoes. This shoe-less thing is something both my boys are experiencing right now-neither want socks or shoes. For Joey, this is very bad, because without socks, his shoes become a military-grade chemical weapon (something he shares with my brother and father). I was hoping that was what The Look was for. I was disappointed.

Joey is back to spitting. This is a huge, huge issue, because spitting is so completely and utterly unacceptable. He's been spitting on the floor and smearing it around, which is bad enough; but spitting in his aide's face is a quick ticket to Ms. T. So we have come back to The Look.

"Don't you have something else to tell your Mom, Joey?" Ms. Macy prompted him sternly.

"I need sandals," he evaded.

"No, Joey. What is the other thing you have to tell Mom?"

He plopped onto the bench. "I went to Ms. T today at 11:35." Time is one of Joey's passions. However, this pronouncement heralded a long, long, long afternoon. Whatever the spitting is about, it means Joey is feeling out-of-sorts. It probably doesn't help that his visit to Ms. T became a bit of a theme to the afternoon. Even Ms. Nikki had to talk about it in speech.

So when I asked him to leave the car seat where it was in the back seat, the world came to a well and proper end. By the time we got home, he was so out of sorts, I had to send him up to his room to calm down. Unfortunately, he didn't; he got more upset, and so I set about making sure he was at least comfortable. Changed clothes, removed shoes, adjusted room temperature and fan speed, found favorite books, picked up items that he had thrown about the room. He didn't want to talk to me, but he spent another ten minutes up there, between raging and talking to himself.

Thank goodness for Dad. A new face, and we can at least get calmer and talk things over. IN talking about what happened today, Joey and JoeyAndyDad also talked about Ms. Macy, and all she does for Joey; helping him through his day, and especially letting him go out into other classes and see all his many friends; and by spitting at her, he made her feel bad. That seemed to really strike a chord with Joey; both that he made Macy feel bad, and that she does so much to help him (especially that she lets him go to other classrooms. Joey really does love having lots of other kids to interact with). He has made her a card and now says he's going to apologize to her tomorrow. And I think this time, it will be more than a kid being told to apologize; this time, it will be Joey telling Ms. Macy how he feels about it. He's sorry, and doesn't want to make her feel bad.

Ah, the Theory of Mind be damned.