Q is for Quiet. That is what it has been for the last few weeks. Apollo started Kindergarten over a month ago and for the most part, we have had a very quiet year. Apollo has had his share of meltdowns - we still have at least one or two major meltdowns a week and usually over the weirdest things, but we used to battle eyes-go-blank, body-goes-rigid, nothing-else-matters meltdowns daily. I will take one or two a week. They are less severe too, which is a relief. We have found that the most effective method of combating his meltdowns is to remove him from the situation and wrap him in a tight hug to calm him down. The other biggest a-ha moment we had was to institute 'Quiet Time' which is a mandatory 45 minutes period immediately following school. The boys change out of their uniforms and go lay down in their beds until 4 o'clock. It has helped tremendously to prevent major meltdowns, especially between the older two. They are tired and their patience is thin when they get home from school - the mandatory rest period gives them a chance to reset their systems and "let the day melt away."
Q is for Quick. This is the rate at which Apollo has assimilated into school. I fully expected the transition to school to be a long, arduous process full of lessons learned and requiring a LOT of patience. It has actually been quite the opposite. In those first two weeks, Apollo brought home 3 yellow faces - and has brought home straight green faces ever since. He loves his teacher and seems to be able to get around school without getting lost. He even has friends. My little boy... the one who only ever played with two children that weren't related to him... has friends. And yes, that is plural! He tells me daily about his friends and what they did today at school. I have noticed a trend in that most of his friends are girls. Perhaps it his distrusting nature of males in general. (He's okay with family members, but he has always gravitated towards women.) Maybe it is the little girls' naturally empathetic nature that he is drawn to. Or maybe he is playing up his friendships more than what is truly there. Regardless, he has adjusted to school at a rate I never thought possible. He likes school, he's doing well - his progress report was straight 100s. He has even ridden the bus by himself on a day when Orion had a doctor's appointment in the morning! Now if we could just get his speed of walking to be quick.... because he moves like a turtle...
Q is for Quirky. This has become our constant. Apollo is quirky. There is no other word for it and no other way to describe Apollo, but quirky. There are things that send him into a complete tizzy that wouldn't make another child blink and then 20 minutes later, he just shrugs at something that would make another child wail. I try to avoid the word normal because really... what IS normal? Certainly not my child - but then, none of my children are "normal." I don't want normal. I wouldn't know what to do with normal. I wouldn't understand normal. I am used to quirky. And I wouldn't have Apollo be any other way - even if he has a meltdown because his covers aren't the right way, or his dinner didn't taste like he expected, or you looked at him wrong. He has his quirks, but they make him who he is - a sweet, wonderful little boy with some strange behaviors that sets him apart from the rest of the world. He is completely attached to me, but he is facing down the big, bad real world out there like a champ!
