A Day with H*

Operation “Not a Fun Mom” continues.

A few weeks ago, I told you how I snuck S home for a day so she could have a bit of a break from school.

Today was H’s special day.

The transition back into school at a NEW school impacted each of my kids so differently. H is my sweet, sensitive child. He so bravely took on this new challenge, and has not shed a tear going into his class even once… even though I know it’s been hard.

I think he quietly carries everything inside as he gets through each day, and often those emotions get unloaded at night once he’s home. He is a little shy, and the pressure to connect with new kids can be really overwhelming sometimes… but he’s trying hard and has been so brave.

Last night all the kids were being a big silly and not listening, and I got upset. H was by no means the epicenter of this kid storm, but he takes it so personally if he thinks anyone is even slightly upset with him. As we talked last night, I apologized for getting upset and looked at my not-so-little boy as he told me all his worries.

He just looked like he needed a break.

So, we took one.

This morning when he got up, I quietly pulled him aside and asked if he wanted to have a “home day” with me. Confused, he looked at me with an expression of “…what’s the catch?” When I explained that it was just for fun, his whole face lit up. Together we decided to make a little fib: we’d tell S and P that he had an appointment, and that Dad was taking them to school.

Off they went, and then off we went too.

We went to the grocery store first to pick out some treats and a pizza for lunch. As we were loading the van, he pointed out a little Dollar Store across the parking lot that we’ve never been to, so we went on a lite adventure.

We poked around every aisle, and I told him to pick out something he wanted. He picked out some new markers for himself, but then, because he’s that kind of a kid, he picked out some stickers for P and some Hubba Bubba for S, so they could have something special too.

We spent the rest of the day here at home. We painted, played some video games, drew pictures and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. We’re now making cookies while W crawls around, then it’s off to the school to pick up the kids.

He just seems… lighter today. He’s commented several times that this has been “the best day ever”, but we didn’t even do anything crazy.

Sometimes you just need some pizza and a movie to make the world right again.

I’m glad we had this time together… I think he needed it.

I did too.