The start of the school and a busload of problems

Maya is back at school and loving it!

Well, mostly.

School started last Thursday.  On Tuesday I called the new bus company and found out that her pick-up time was 2 hours before school started.  Yikes.  They seemed confident that the route would change.  I called the bus company back on Wednesday, realizing that they hadn't told me Maya's route number . . . and this time they told me that we had been deleted from the system and had no bussing.  So then I called the school, who told me that we definitely had bussing.  Ty also were confident that major changes were going to be made, as many of the routes seemed to criss cross around the city.  I learned that rather than letting the bus companies handling the routing, the DOE had taken over the process.  Of course . . . that makes total sense. 

We decided to drive Maya on Thursday & Friday, after hearing that the buses would likely be re-routed over the weekend.    Here are a few first day pics:

Double-checking her backpack while we waited in the lobby

As soon as she hit her new classroom she ran right to the garage toy, pulled out the buses, and started driving them around.  Poor kid is having some bus withdrawal.

 



Thursday and Friday afternoon brought some major meltdowns as Maya was desperate to get on the bus rather than having to go in the car with me.  She didn't care that I was trying to rescue her from the 2.5 hour trip home (yep, seriously) . . . she wanted the BUS.  We heard that the buses were being re-routed over the weekend and the trips on Monday should be more smooth, so we psyched her up, saying "Your bus isn't ready yet, but it will come on Monday!"

All weekend, we talked about the bus. This morning we marched outside and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  The waiting didn't bother me much, because I kept thinking good--this means our new pick-up time is later-that's great news!  But after 90 minutes we gave up and headed into the school in the car (Maya was bribed with chocolate milk and a movie . . . by that point she was tired of waiting, too).  I dropped her off at school only to learn that the buses weren't there, the routes still seemed to be a mess, and maybe I should come back for her this afternoon? 

And so . . .instead of working or nesting or doing much of anything productive, I'm getting ready to drive back into the city and pick up a very angry 4 yr old who will rage against getting in my car.  I'm so bummed that we told her she would be on the bus today and have to break our word. I'm thinking it will be an ice cream afternoon. 

(This is a big, bad city-wide issue right now, with several stories appearing in the paper and on the radio about the obscenely long routes for these preschoolers.  I can only hope that hopefully that means it will be dealt with more quickly.)

There's a silver lining, though.

Bus aside, the school year is off to a great start.  Maya loves her new class, which is a bit larger and has less adult helpers . . . I was a little bit nervous about the transition, but she's doing great.  I thought that she might try to run away to her old class, but she hasn't---an aide even took her there to visit and say hi, and she left without a peep when it was time to go.

The new teacher and new speech therapist seem great, interested, caring, and open to learning all about her talker and how to incorporate it.  (Whew!)   When the important stuff is going so well, it's hard to lose (too much) sleep over something like the bus.  I sure hope that they get this squared away soon, though.  You know, like before this baby is arriving.

Separation anxiety has its perks

The past two days, boarding the bus has not been pretty.

The bus pulls down the street.

"Maya!  Look!   Your school bus is coming!"  (Smiles, wiggles in my arms, giving me a big hug).

The bus stops and we approach.

"Are you going to ride the bus like a big girl?! To school?!  Oh, you're going to have so much fun!"  (Smiles, giggles, wiggles)

I go to hand her over to the bus matron.

(PANIC.  She clings to me.  She starts to cry.  I'm a mess of untangling the four limbs that she's wrapped tightly around me, attempting to hand her heavy self--as she's now gone totally limp---over.  She alternates between floppy and stiff in an attempt to not get buckled into her seat.)

I wave and blow kisses and then turn and walk away.  I feel like staying to watch is just more painful (for both of us).  Sigh.

So, that's not fun.

The upside of all of this is that she's totally loving me right now.  Absence has made her little heart grow fonder---and while I used to be a given, a constant presence, now I'm suddenly special.  Desired.  Dave & I were playing with her last night, and she kept coming over to hug me.  Me!  She's always been a daddy's girl and suddenly she just wants mama.  I'm not going to lie, it's kind of nice.

I know it won't last forever.  I also know that it's probably embarrassingly egotistical to find separation anxiety flattering, but I don't care :)

She's a happy girl getting off the bus and coming to play with me.  And Parker, too.  I've taken him down to pick her up a few times and it's adorable.  Yesterday Dave was home by drop-off time too, so I was able to get a little video of their after-school reunion:

Almost 2 weeks, and an identity crisis

It's been almost 2 weeks since Maya started school.  The top 3 questions that I've gotten over the past 2 weeks are:

How does Maya like school?
She loves school and her classmates . . . yesterday in her communication notebook the teacher wrote that she knows the names of the other kids in her class and likes to give everybody hugs*.  How freaking cute is that?

* I feel for the hug-ees in this situation since, due to balance issues, I imagine that Maya's "big hugs" are more like tackles.  But tackles of love.

How does Maya like the bus?
She has a love/hate relationship with the bus . . . she wiggles and smiles when it pulls up, silently gets handed over, and sometimes starts to cry as she gets buckled in  and pulls away :(  Her bus ride is long (over an hour) and I hate to think of her sometimes crying (which is not always happening, but sometimes).  I wish I could convince her to sleep on the bus----it would help with the biggest challenge we have right now-exhaustion.  The girl is overtired and heading to bed around 6:15.  It's like we barely see her . . .but we don't keep her up later because we know that the more sleep she gets, the less time she'll spend crying (from overtiredness) tomorrow.

So, now that she's in school, what are you doing during the day?
Um . . . good question.

First, there's the mundane---laundry, cooking, cleaning.  Some deep cleaning (although an allergy flare up has forced me to postpone some bigger projects).  I've read almost 3 books.  I run errands.  I've seen a bunch of doctors, just for me---I can't remember the last time I took the time for check-ups (eyes, internists, dermatologist, gyn---I'm fit as a fiddle!).  I walk Parker.  I spend a lot of time answering emails, especially talking to Maya's teacher and new therapists.  I think about projects that I might do for her, or with her, but I haven't gotten around to actually doing anything yet.

Then, there's the identity crisis.  I can lose a lot of time sitting in silence and thinking about what I should be doing with my time.  I haven't found any part-time job that would work.  I write lists of things that I want to blog about.  I seriously consider whether I could write a book.  I wander around the apartment, picking up a sweatshirt here, or mopping a floor there, and think and think and think about what I'm doing and what I should be doing and how to use my time.

Weirdly, I am trapped in the apartment by my subconscious mind.  I've spent 2 years firmly tethered to it, with rounds of therapists arriving at different times.  I'm used to staying quiet when Maya isn't here----because it used to be that if she wasn't with me, she was napping.  I keep thinking she's napping.  The phone rings and I rush to get it before it can wake her up.  I don't feel free to leave.  I walk briskly to the grocery store, shop, and walk briskly back again.  Taking the laptop to Starbucks for a few hours last week was bizarrely liberating. 

I'm sure that I'll find my footing, but for now I'm still in a little twilight zone.  It feels strange (and probably unhealthy) that I can easily go from 7:15-3:15 without speaking a word.  I play classical music, I do small projects, and I think.  And think.  And think.  I'm a bit lost in my own head.

Having so much time suddenly is nice, in some ways, but I find myself searching for a purpose.  Household maintenance, special needs/medical paperwork, and projects for Maya are all good to do, and I can easily fill my days "getting things done", but I'm searching for something bigger.  I miss teaching, but I don't have the time.  I have grown a love for writing, and think about trying to work at writing and possibly try to write "for real" (like, articles to submit somewhere, or a book) but get lost in thought about how to go about it.

I'm spinning my wheels, but not getting anywhere. 

Yet.

And while I guess I'm feeling a little weighed down at the moment, I rest assured in the knowledge that it's temporary.  I'll find a path and start to pursue it, but it's going to take a bit more time.

News in brief & new giveaway winner

-Maya loves school.  LOVES.  I picked her up yesterday (and will every Weds, to go to after school feeding/speech therapy) and got to see her so excited, running around and pointing to show off the classroom, hugging her teachers, etc.  It's too cute.  The teacher even asked her "Where's Adam?" and she toddled over to bulletin board with the kids' pictures and pointed to the right kid!  (She doesn't know everyone, but she's learning.)

-Maya does not love the bus.  I don't think she hates it, but she doesn't love it.  On the FB page (which you should like) and Twitter (where you should follow) I've mentioned that there have been some tears (yesterday from Maya and then me, today just from Maya).  Today was a better ride, though, with less crying, and the bus people seem nice.  We're hoping that it will get easier.

-Maya's made some great art (pictures in my Twitter feed) and so did I!  The teacher sent home a leaf to decorate with some family pictures.  Maya was a fan :)

-Parker is not having a good week.  He spends a lot of time moping in his crate.  But also, he gets to run in the baseball field on some mornings (I couldn't take him with Maya, because the field isn't fenced in---I worried that he would bolt after something and I would be stuck with the jogging stroller).  He loves the running, but doesn't like the quiet apartment.

-We have a new giveaway winner!  The previous winner never claimed the Leapfrog DVD, so we have a new winner, care of random.org:  Comment #22!!

"Queen Amy said...

I know my letters and my daughters know their letters, but I love coming here and I would really like to win your giveaway and give it away to one of the children I work with who hasn't learned their letters. That sentence had a lot of letters!

August 22, 2011 11:05 PM "

 

Congratulations, Amy!   Email me to claim your prize!

First time riding on the school bus!

Last Thursday was the first day of preschool---I drove Maya in, and picked her up at the end of the day.

On Friday, I drove her into school in the morning and she took the bus home at the end of the day.  Dave came home early and we waited together (semi-nervously) for the bus to arrive with our big, independent, bus-riding 3 year old.

Can you feel the excitement?

Dave had the video camera and I had the regular camera and we waited and waited . . . and then . . . 

IT WAS HERE!!!!

Wait.

No it wasn't.

That's cool.  Now we just look like crazy people who stand in front of our building and take pictures of school buses.  No big deal.

But a few minutes later . . .

That's it! For real! 

(Notice Dave---we have no shame, people.  We are the crazy first time parents who are documenting every moment.)

Look at her smiling little face!

She was surprised and happy to see us, and as the bus matron walked her out to me I could tell that she was happy, but confused.  Like, I'm home?  The bus brought me to Mommy and Daddy?  Wait, I'm getting off the bus now?

Dave took some video.  If you watch her expressions when she's in my arms, she kept looking towards the bus, like It's leaving?  Is that the end?  Is it coming back?  This whole thing is a little startling! (Also, I had spent the past 3 hours cleaning, so please forgive my no make-up'd, stringy hair-ed appearance.)

Tomorrow morning she'll be riding the bus both to and from school!  Truth be told, this is the first thing that I'm nervous about----I'm worried that she'll be scared and cry when I hand her off to the lady on the bus, and when she sees that I'm still outside when the bus pulls away :(  I hope she does ok.  I'll be anxiously awaiting her arrival in the afternoon so I can ask how it all went.

Two firsts in one day

Today Maya had 2 firsts:

1.  First bus ride.  She loved it, as we knew she would.  When we got off the bus she was whimpering, struggling to get out of Daddy's arms, and signing "More, more, more!"  I wanted her to ride the bus (and the subway, but we haven't done that one yet) with us before school started---that way she has a frame of reference if they come up at school.  Also, I know they take the subway (and maybe busses?) for class trips, and I wanted her first ride to be with us, so I could see her little excited face :)

Her blurry, but excited, face

2.  She fed herself a peach.  Well, half a peach---I had to pry it out of her slippery, gripping fingers when I realized that she was devouring it so aggressively that she would most certainly shatter her teeth on the pit.  I gave the remainder to her in big chunks.  Self-feeding a whole piece of fruit?!  Woo hoo!

I'm still sorting through vacation pics and have a vacation story or two to share as well.  Only 2 weeks and 2 days until little Maya will be starting school, and we're trying to make the most of our time off before then :) 

If you didn't do it already, go enter the Leapfrog DVD giveaway!  Remember, to enter you have to leave comments on the blog post HERE, not on the FB page.  Good luck!