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Ryan is growing up. You can tell by how he handled the bus being 40 minutes late on Monday & today. He held it together on the bus but once we got inside, he broke down. On Monday, it took us about 20 minutes to calm down, today was only a few minutes and he was fine. I hope this progress continues. I also hope the bus driver can get her act together and not be so dang late!

But then Ryan can be really silly. Especially when I want to take his photo. We played hide and seek today. Basically, he kept trying to hide and I kept snapping away hoping to catch a good photo.

It made the wait for the bus go by faster but after 20 minutes, Ryan wanted me to drive him to school. Andy would prefer to wait for the bus but since he whining is not as loud as Ryan’s, he lost out and I drove them.

The boys started school today. Ryan had wanted to take the bus but I convinced him to let me drive him. Not that I wanted to go out but I know the bus is usually late on the first day. Being late makes him made and I do what I can to avoid that. Too bad I couldn’t have known how late they would be after school. They are usually home by 4 pm. By 4:30, I was getting a little anxious and called transportation. They seemed unsympathetic and said that 30 to 45 minutes late was typical for the first 3 days. The boys have been riding the bus since 2001 and it’s never been like this. They finally got home at 4:40 pm and seemed OK.

Then again, Ryan was just holding it together until I got into the house. Poor guy, he hates feeling out of control. And to make matters worse, Faye is coming so there is no school tomorrow. He hates to miss school and doesn’t want to go back ever again.

Today was meet the teacher day. Both boys have new teachers. Ryan likes having new teachers. I wonder if he thinks that means he is growing up. This year, he has his first male teacher, Mr Moss. He seemed nice enough if a bit young. (I feel so old!) His room was neat and spare of frills. Ryan got to pick out his desk and even brought his school supplies. He loved being first that way. I didn’t notice until we were ready to leave that he had left his hat at home and took off his watch because those are “privileges” and he hasn’t earned them back. He is too cute. He did let me take his picture with his new teacher and another with Ms Kato the inclusion specialist. Unfortunately, the pictures look like crap. (I hate flash.)

The pods all got new names this year as well. In the past, they were all birds now they are all sea life. Ryan is in with the sharks. Andy is in with the sea turtles. Andy has only had a few teachers in the 7 years he has been going to school. The last one, he had for 3 years in a row. She was nice enough but a scatter-brain and not aggressive for laid back Andy. Now Andy has Ms Krause. How do you describe your son to a stranger? I was at a loss.

It was after 8 pm and there was a loud knocking at the door. It was almost dusk and I almost didn’t answer it. It was the sheriff. Crap! What did we do? (Yes, I always feel guilty that my son did something odd and/or wrong.) But it wasn’t up. The neighbor’s cars were broken into and did we hear or see anything? No, but is that a horse? Yes. Do you know how hard it is to my job with that around? Huh? Oh it was just a coincidence that the sheriff’s office came by with 2 horses while this guy came about the cars.

I took Andy out in his robe. (Oh please let him keep it closed!) and we checked out the horses. Sampson was big dappled grey, 17 1/2 hands! Andy was a prettier roan and 11 years old just like my Andy. Andy thought the horses were from the zoo. Nope, they were handing out cards with Sheriff Bob White’s photo. It is an election year.

No, pics. The light was not good and they weren’t sticking around long. Then Ryan came out to make sure I wasn’t late for his bedtime. sigh

The bus was late this afternoon. Twenty minutes late. I knew that Ryan would be upset. The bus driver said that dismissal was delayed because of criminal activity. He didn’t know anymore than that. He said the boys did well.

But Ryan wouldn’t open his eyes. It’s his ostrich tactic when this are going badly and he doesn’t want to face them. I carried him from the bus to the garage then made him walk. Still he would not open his eyes. Lucky for him I was in a pretty good mood even though I had just spent over $100 at the grocery store. I stayed calmed and sympathized. I find that agreeing with him lets the foul mood pass more quickly. We laid down in my bed and talked and then played. He didn’t want to go back to school ever again. He wanted to switch schools. He wanted the school to go out of business. At 5 pm, he felt better and was ready to go on his way.

That’s just one of Ryan’s quirks. He has to be on time. Once he got his watch, he demanded that everyone else be on time as well. It drove the teachers a bit mad. Last year, they took down the schedule which listed the times each activity was to be started and completed. There are no class bells so the times could be a bit flexible. Ryan is not.

This year Ryan got into some behavioral problems. They took away some items that they deemed “privileges.” One of the items is his watch. He cannot wear it in school until he earns it back. So he outsmarted them and wears it on the bus but puts it in his backpack before he gets to school. Then he puts it back on when he gets on the bus to go home. So he knows when he is “late.”

Ryan makes up a lot of rules dealing with time. At 7:15 pm, he sits on the potty and plays with his DS. At 8:00 pm, he takes a bath. At 8:30 pm, he wants kisses and the light turned off. Early is OK, late is not.