Hurray for Jupiter!!!

Jupiter stayed in her classroom by herself for almost the whole day today!!!!!!

On Monday, Mimi was outside the classroom with Jupiter in the room when one of the staff members approached her and begged her to substitute teach in one of the first grade teacher's rooms, because they had NOBODY to go into that room. One of the school secretaries, on her way through the parking lot, was blinded by the sun (the sunrise and the commute time are fairly entertwined for the next couple of weeks) and she hit one of the first grade teachers who was crossing the parking lot on her way into the building. She was not seriously hurt, but had to go to the hospital. That particular teacher's daughter also teaches in the building, so they were out two teachers and one school secretary. Jupiter was able to seperate to begin with and then she spent part of her day in 1st grade. She won the math game that the first graders played and had her own desk (the stop and think desk) so she thought it was the best thing. So I was concerned that we had to make kindergarten more appealing than 1st grade. But in the afternoon, when she chose not to return to her classroom, she missed playground time and got fairly bored.

When I went to pick Jupiter up, she had a meltdown. At least, by that point, I knew what had happened and what had triggered it..knowing that she would have to stay in her classroom by herself the next day. In case I had any doubt, she screamed it at me at the top of her lungs while we were sitting at a red light. She had to cope with a complete change in routine with no warning and no prep. And she got through it, even if the end of the day was tough. We got home, went for a walk, settled down, and then we made a book.

I had her tell me all the things her class would do the next day. Specifically. Dot to dot. Morning meeting. Reading. Phys Ed. Lunch. Recess. Centers. Snack. Recess. I had her tell me which parts made her scared. (phys ed. Lunch.) I told her that she could go to first grade for phys ed and for lunch. (the lunchroom is too loud.) We wrote down the times she could see Mimi. We wrote down on the pages after the schedule the things she could do if she got scared. Then we did a few pages with the safe adults at school she knows and trusts. Then we made a page with her friends.

All this took upwards of 90 minutes. I expected her to be awake at some point during the night, but though she woke up twice, they were very brief and she went right back to sleep. The cat jumped on her bed in the morning so she started off the day with a smile in her heart. She brought her book with her to school and she read it together with her teacher. Her teacher gave her stickers so after each page was done she could put a sticker on.

At 1:30 I had a voice mail message on my phone. I missed the call because I forgot to bring the phone with me while I was working in the storage closet. The message was that Jupiter was doing great, and was staying by herself. When I got home, I found out that she even went to phys ed. She had a few tears at the beginning, but she found her friend Amelia (one of the coaching strategies in her book) and settled down and decided that phys ed was actually quite fun. She did go to see Mimi for lunch instead of the lunchroom, but then actually ASKED if she could go back to kindergarten. She stayed for the rest of the day and waited for Mimi to pick her up.

I am amazed and so very proud at this moment. Hurray for Jupiter!!!!!!!!!!

trying the video again......

I think it worked. This is the short one, not the best one. If it truly works I'll try another one.

Jupiter was born to ride a horse

wow. this takes a whole boatload of time to upload. It's kind of a long video. Maybe too long for blogger.

There. I gave up. I'll post a picture instead.

She smiled the whole time. Except when they were trotting. Then she laughed and giggled the entire time. My sensory seeker preferred to bounce on the horse as opposed to either sitting or posting, which was a bit harder on Tinkerbelle.

It was like the best thing ever. Dance in the AM was good too...I don't have a picture of her smile when she was leaping over the "flower" in the middle of the floor, but it was a good smile. I brought my Princples of Banking homework with me, but didn't read more than a page or two.

I wish I could post the video. Maybe I'll try a shorter one and see if it posts. Of course if it does it'll probably be way at the top of the post and you'll have already seen it. Oh well..technology sometimes challenges me.

Jupiter in kindergarten

Jupiter has completed five days of kindergarten. She has yet to stay at school by herself, but yesterday and today was able to stay in the classroom by herself while Mimi "volunteered" in the hallway by stuffing the kids' notice folders (swine flu information, anyone?) and creating a beautiful bulletin board outside Mrs. VerdantLand's room. Transitioning to the specials still throws her for a loop, especially since the classroom teacher doesn't stay with the kids during art, music, phys ed, or library. So the specials continue to be a source of anxiety. On Tuesday Jupiter went home with Mimi for a "lunch break." When they returned to school, the office secretary asked Jupiter what she's been doing. Jupiter answered her that she had swam in the pool and had lunch. The secretary said, "You're not going to do that every day, are you?" I had to think about that for awhile before I realized the extent to which that was the wrong thing to say. Jupiter's teacher, fortunately, is quicker than I am, and when she heard about that she promptly informed the office that Jupiter does NOT need editorial comments from the office staff about leaving school for lunch or for the day. And since after her break, Jupiter came back into that building ready to learn, as opposed to just being present and struggling to keep herself regulated, it was totally the right decision to have her go home to Mimi's for a break.



Wednesday is a half day anyway, and on Thursday she stayed a half day. But on Thursday, with the exception of art, she let Mimi leave the classroom while she stayed, so that was great work for one day. Today she stayed at school almost all day; leaving just before the final recess and dismissal.



Great great work. The secretary comment made me have a long thinking time about how much effort it takes for Jupiter to function in the school environment. When she was a baby living with a group of other babies and one or two adults, her basic needs were not met. She wasn't safe. So why WOULDN'T it be difficult for her? Especially at the beginning of the year when she hasen't had a chance to build up a level of trust with all those new adults. It dawned on me how every single interaction she has with every single adult at that school can and will affect her fear in a positive or negative way. Including when the secretaries make comments about Jupiter going home for lunch. It never occurred to me to inform them that if they sign her in or out of the office, the correct thing to say is something along the lines of "Hi Jupiter! Hope you had a great lunch!" "It's great to see you today!" I learn something new every day.

Mrs. Verdantland is extremely supportive. Despite the odd/judgemental looks my mother sees on occasion from the few staff members at the school who don't know who she is. Those are the same ones who think we should just leave her and make her understand that we're going to come back to get her. Mrs. Verdantland reminds us that WE know her better than anybody else and are the ones who knows what she needs. And agrees with us that if Jupiter's anxiety gets to the tantrum/rage level, it will severly impact her ability to be successful because the kids will treat her differently. Which is exactly what happened her first year of preschool. And is worth avoiding at all costs.

Tomorrow Jupiter starts a session of therapeutic riding. She's wanted to ride forever and I can't wait to see her smile when she gets up on that pony for the first time.

Jupiter in the Shower

"Mom, we have to get my belly button full of bubbles."

Internet Shopping

Our department added on an extra week or so because New Jersey decided they weren't ready to take on all the processes that they thought they would be. They have taken some of the work, but not all. So we have minimal work to do at the moment. We worked very hard packing and boxing everything up because we thought we would be all done, and now we have nothing.

I hate when I run out of stuff to look at on the internet. I love the internet, but doing it for seven hours a day at work gets old. I'd rather be home trying to get my house clean. (and boy does it need that.) The other day I discovered the King Arthur Flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=home&ref=ti&utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=king+arthur+flour&utm_content=kaf&OVRAW=King%20Arthur%20Flour&OVKEY=king%20arthur%20flour&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=1976401521&OVKWID=18585012521website. Before I knew it I had printed out six recipes, ordered sourdough starter and a crock to keep it in. The sourdough starter was supposedly on backorder until September 2nd. I ordered it Thursday and expected it to come in a week. It came Friday. Then I had to get bottled water to feed the starter. It's like having a pet that lives in your fridge. I fed it for 24 hours and then started the first batch of bread. The dough is rising now.

It would have been a lot simpler to just go to the supermarket or whatever and BUY a loaf of sourdough bread, if I was having a craving. If I had lots of work to do, this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have been trolling the internet looking at recipes because they're something that the internet police have not blocked. Never mind that a nice King Arthur flour catalog came in the box and Saturday morning I drooled all over that. I can get my own yogurt machine and make my own yogurt too!!!! And I can get Jupiter her very own 7 inch wooden rolling pin. (That I might get. She loves to pretend cook. Especially with real ingredients. Elmo pointed out to me the other day that while Jupiter is forever telling me not to make her any of my "recipes" for her to eat, she's forever in the kitchen making up her own recipes.) The rolling pin has free shipping, so maybe for Christmas.

Oh, someone fell asleep. Told her she needed a quiet time. The sun is out, so after nap we can go to the playground and swing. And go to the store to buy cat litter. We're all out. Details.

Well, now I can go clean something or I can go sit in the sun and read a book for a half hour. Hmmm...there's a tough call.

church fun

Today we went to cross. Turned out it is Blessing of the Backpacks, which I didn't know until we got there so Jupiter's backpack is at Mimi's. Oh well. Lots of kids don't have their backpacks. Jupiter sits with me and her friend KK, and eats her snack in the first ten minutes. She was right. I should have packed more cheddar bunnies. At least when she's got something to nibble on, she can sit quietly. Jupiter and KK both get bored. They start poking each other. I sit between them for awhile. Then I look over at Jupiter, who has pulled out her shirt. She has a CD hidden in her shirt. I look at the ceiling. Doesn't tell me WHY she has a CD in her shirt. It's a Music Together CD..Maracas collection. She insists she's too grown up for music together CD's, so why she smuggled one to church is beyond me. I take custody of the CD so it doesn't get broken. I LIKE the music together CDs. As we leave communion, Jupiter looks at me and says, "Race you back to our seat." I say no. At the end of the service, during the announcements, Jupiter tells the other kids nearby that she is almost a teenager. The kids in the row in front of us look to me for confirmation. I tell them Jupiter is 5 and a half. Jupiter tells me that I'm too stupid to know she's almost a teenager.

And so we make our traditional trip out to the bench in the narthex for a CHAT. Fr. Tim doesn't realize that we're having a CHAT and comes over to chat. The whole bench break works a lot better when it's not the very end of the service and the narthex is full of people.

She's having quiet time now. Sunday is our only quiet time day in the new school schedule and I plan to take full advantage.

Yesterday we went to the Bounce Zone http://www.smsportszone.com/bouncezone-saco-maine.php . It's essentially a big warehouse filled with myriad bouncy houses that you can go to for $7 an hour or $10 if you want to spend as long as you want. What a concept. Wish I'd thought of it myself, in fact. We spent two hours reaching our sensory threshold. She banged her head against the back seat of the car all the way to the Bounce Zone but not at all on the way home. I LOVE Bounce Zone.

Summer OT group is all done now. Kindy Step up Day is on Wednesday. First day of school is Thursday. Friday they're off for Labor Day Weekend. I can't believe it's September!!