Connor’s First Day of Kindergarten

Connor’s first day of kindergarten was a day I was definitely not looking forward to. His IEP wasn’t finalized because the ESS coordinator we were working with (and LOVED so much) suddenly left the school in the middle of the summer. The new team wasn’t scheduled to start until after school started & I had no idea what therapies he’d receive or who the therapists would be. I tried to meet with Connor’s teacher before the year started to tell her about our sweet guy & what his needs would be since the IEP wasn’t completed. I didn’t want her blindly entering the school year unaware of some of the things to watch out for (balance issues that cause him to fall, fatigue, fine motor delay & anxiety). But the day of the meeting both boys behaved so badly within the first few minutes of being in her classroom that we just had to pack up and leave. The boys were crying because they knew they were in BIG trouble and I was crying because I was so embarrassed but even more, I was disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to discuss with her some of Connor’s needs.
And if I’m being honest, I just wasn’t ready for him to be in kindergarten.
But on Tuesday morning, we got up, got ready, put a smile on our faces (no matter how nervous we were) and made the drive to school. ( Not before a quick photo shoot, tho! 🙂 )

I don’t know about Connor, but as we got closer and closer to his school I felt less and less prepared for dropping off my baby for his first day.

Abe and I both entered the classroom with Connor and helped him get situated at his desk. The classroom was a bit chaotic as most students had at least one parent with them. There were so many bodies in this room that suddenly felt very small. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was feeling just as anxious as I was.

As his teacher was politely dismissing the parents I gave Connor a kiss and sensed we were about to fall apart. Abe jumped in and encouraged me to leave the class to let him handle Connor’s meltdown. I quickly left the classroom and burst into tears. I was so sad to leave Connor crying and I felt disappointed that we didn’t have a better send off.

After about 15 minutes of waiting in the car Abe finally came out but he didn’t look happy. He told me Connor was in full meltdown mode- crying, hitting, kicking and trying to bite the staff who were there to comfort him. My heart broke. We pulled away from the school in silence, both of us pretty devastated.
Less than 10 minutes later we got a call from the school saying we needed to come pick him up. He was still very upset and still very aggressive and had to be physically restrained to ensure everyone’s safety. At this point I could not get to my baby fast enough! As soon as we got back to the school and into the office I could hear Connor screaming. I followed his screams as fast as I could and scooped him up into my arms the second I saw him. He calmed down pretty quickly after seeing Abe and I and I just held him and kissed him and did my best to hold back my own tears.
After a few minutes he agreed to talk with us and the headmaster about possibly going back into the classroom. He returned to his silly self pretty fast and decided on his own that he was ready to give kindergarten another shot.  He quickly walked down the hall and with tons of confidence walked right into his classroom and found his seat. I was so proud!
Abe and I spent quite a bit of time speaking with the headmaster and we all agreed that we would keep Connor in school for the rest of the day and just take each day as it came. We weren’t going to worry how the rest of the year would go, we wouldn’t hold the first day against him—just take the year day by day. The headmaster was kind enough to call me a couple times throughout the morning to let me know that Connor was doing great! This gesture meant the world to me and is just one of the reasons I love his school so much! The staff have been so accommodating and agreed to do whatever it takes to help Connor make it through the day and be as successful as he can be in the classroom each and every day!
We picked up our sweet little guy a couple hours later and he was in such a great mood! He said he enjoyed his first day and was looking forward to going back. He was very excited to show me the art project he did with his classmates.

We are so proud of the challenges that Connor has overcome in such a short amount of time. Connor is excited to go to school each morning and really, genuinely loves his teachers and “teammates”! I am so proud to be Connor’s mom and cannot wait to see all the progress he makes this school year! So far, Kindergarten is off the a great start!