For the past couple of weeks I have been seeing
articles/posts about going back to school and pictures of kids as they head off
for that exciting first day.
 |
| Riley (8); J2 (9) |
When the boys were young I too would have them
posing with their backpacks before heading off for their first day of school.
As years went by the boys were not quite as eager to have their picture taken. Surely
it had nothing to do with the fact that I was out on the front lawn in my PJ’s,
slippers with an extreme case of bed head. Right??
Yesterday for the first time in 16 years there
would be no eager, happy, excited, stressed, anxious, glum, annoyed faces to
snap. After the excitement passed…it felt strange. I felt a little anxious.
Reality hit.
Riley World was finished with school. Forever. Eeep!
What does that mean for us???
Well in June, after 14 years navigating the school
system, Riley was done. I was done. We were all done! We all needed a break. A
sabbatical if you will. So we decided to take the summer off to get rejuvenated,
regroup and refocus.
For the first time in 14 years we are in uncharted
(for us) waters and I am not going to sugarcoat anything this time…it is scary
my friends. Very, VERY scary.
We had to start the process of applying for any
services/funds Riley may be eligible for again since at 19, R is considered an
adult and services/funding is accessed through different government/community
agencies. Not quite as daunting as the first time for sure yet time consuming
and, at times, frustrating.
Yes I have felt guilty that we are not as prepared
as we should be. Yes I will probably feel guilty many more times in the future.
Such is life. For now…
We have some things in place for Riley.
We are working on others.
We are ready to hit the ground running.
I hope you will stay tuned for the next phase of Riley World. I am sure there will be much to share. :D
I hope you will stay tuned for the next phase of Riley World. I am sure there will be much to share. :D
Do your kids not wear shoes to school? :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading about all that the future holds for your family.
We live in the Great White North...shoes are optional outside. Socks were only required for sliding on the hardwood. ;P
DeleteBig, scary day. As you know I've been thinking about it a lot lately too and following in your footsteps :) I have a bunch of forms to fill out that consider my son to be an adult at 16. Nooooo. No no no.
ReplyDelete16!!!!!! :O
Delete*Standing aside* Please...go ahead. Really. I'm a much better follower.
That must be so weird! But you know, a little break never hurt anybody! How wonderful that you are moving on to the next stage in life!
ReplyDeleteVery weird!!! It was hard to imagine this day when they were little then...BAM! Mind you...you will have a "little" longer to wait. ;P
Deleteomg the guilt!! I KNOW THAT!!! Though now I pretty much ignore it lol! Except when we get bored. Then I feel bad. There are days we just simply run out of things to do. (i call that nap time ;) )
ReplyDeleteYEA...nap time!!! :D
Delete