Discoveries of a 2nd Grade Classroom

Goodness gracious it's been a week.  One of those weeks where you have a million things going on each day, about 10,000 things on your to-do list and no end in sight.  This weekend doesn't look like it will slow down either.  About a million more things going on, things that we don't feel we can say no to.  We've spent a lot of time in the community this week, a lot of transitions, a lot of time in the vehicle....all of which are things Charlie has a really hard time with.  

Sunny helps Charlie anytime we ride in the vehicle (Charlie doesn't have a seatbelt on because we are parked and ready to get out).

We practice a lot of skills with Charlie each week.  This week we've practiced patience quite a bit and finding things to stay busy with (that doesn't involve screen time) while he's being patient.  A lot of this patience is practiced while his older brother, Easton, is playing hockey.  Even a year ago we didn't think we'd see a day so soon where Charlie could tolerate being at an event for a long period of time.  But he's totally been rocking it the last few months.  This has included a 2 day hockey tournament last weekend.  A few things that helped: Sunny (of course), having a familiar friend to play with, and this mama prepared with a stuffed backpack full of snacks and boredom busters!

Getting ready for a weekend full of hockey!  Sunny has acclimated well to being a rink dog.

Sunny helps Charlie stay occupied during a hockey game.

Sunny was able to join Charlie in his classroom today for a Valentines party.  Tyler and I enjoyed watching Charlie with his classmates in his room today.  All of his classmates know Sunny and loved being able to see her.  And all of them were super respectful of not petting or distracting her.  It was like she was a permanent fixture in the room that they are all used to having there all the time.  The party was fun, cute and entertaining.  And these kids are all amazing.  I watched as they helped each other, they were respectful of each other and so incredibly sweet.  They were excited to give each other their valentines that they worked so hard on and had fun at different stations around the room with crafts and snacks.  One of the stations was a photo booth where the kids had their picture taken with a polaroid camera and then made a picture frame for it.  It was the cutest thing and Charlie wanted Sunny in his picture with him.  Here is the result....

Cutest thing ever!

But what melted this mama's heart the most was a comment from another little boy in the room.  As the party was wrapping up and the kids were gathering their things to go home, this boy, we'll call him E, was standing next to Charlie and both were packing their backpacks.  E dropped a couple of items that landed next to Charlie.  Charlie kindly picked them up and handed them back to him.  I praised Charlie on being so thoughtful and helpful (a social interaction like this doesn't come easy for him- this too has taken lots of practice) and E looked at me and said "I really like Charlie.  We are pretty much best friends."  My heart about exploded.  You see, Charlie doesn't come home and tell us about kids in his class that he talks to or plays with.  I know he gets along with his classmates because his teacher has told us he does.  But we don't get specifics from Charlie.  Charlie doesn't come home and ask for playdates with anyone from his class, or anyone for that matter.  But it occurred to me today that the world might be an okay place if we have more kids like I saw in this classroom today.  All of them showed kindness, patience, and respect.  So, to the parents of the kids in Mrs. Andrew's 2nd grade classroom....nice job.  Your kids are amazing and you should all be so proud of them.  Thank you for teaching your children kindness. I'm glad Charlie has them by his side and I pray they all continue to grow together as the years go by.  

Charlie & Sunny patiently waiting to leave school