Kindergarten Drop Off

I've been anxious about T starting Kindergarten because his sensory and anger issues have escalated recently. That combined with his school's complete lack of organization (due to massive reconstruction on campus) made today a bit stressful. Phone lines were completely down last week, so there was no way to meet his teacher, see his classroom, or have any type of Kinder orientation. In fact, when I drove over there on Thurs last week, the secretary explained that they hadn't determined teacher assignments yet. God loves me too much to give me any possible thing to hold onto for security short of Him and Him alone!!! I've had to admit my anxiety-I'm just anxious! But I am determined to say, "He's yours, Lord," every time I start playing the possible scenarios (of course all bad ones) in my head.

Here's how the morning went:

1. Timothy wasn't on the list for either Kinder class (there is one K and one K-1). A trip to the office resolved this quickly. The recruiter wrote a note saying Timothy was registered. I was given the option of which class, and I chose the straight K class. I don't know why exactly.
2. For blogging purposes, I'll call his teacher Ms. F. She has been a 6th grade science teacher for several years, and this is her first K class. She seems nice (and patient), but this will be a transition for her surely. She has 17 animals at home, and will bring a science/animal emphasis to the class. There are 2 guinea pigs in the room (they got to pet one), and the kids will be putting a fish tank together over time.
3. There are 2 Kindergartners with peanut allergies, and at least 1 of them is in his class. Timothy's main source of food is peanut butter, so we would not want any child in danger!!!! The nurse will be coordinating with the parents of those kids and the K teachers to figure out how that will play out.
4. Sensory wise it was a rough start. As you can imagine, it was total chaos with this morning essentially being Kinder orientation. There were 21 students (that's BIG here), and almost as many parents. It's also a warm day in San Diego, and our schools don't have A/C-he looked like he was wilting. And during the opening activity (that parent's were welcomed to watch) the kids shared 3 things they love. Ms F. told them to hold hands while all the kids told their 3 things. I've never seen Timothy able to hold hands that long with anyone! He did it (which I'm proud of), but that kind of sensory stimulation is so overwhelming to him and it showed.
5. Our presence. At one point in circle time Timothy came to me and said, "Mom, I want you." He's never been a clingy child (maybe the opposite), so this is just his way of saying, "I'm in sensory overload, and I need to be safe." I held him for a couple of minutes and then was able to talk him into going back to the group. When the teacher assigned them their desks, she handed out a coloring sheet. He immediately looked for me, "Mom, I need help." He is very insecure about drawing, and he responds disrespectfully when he's trying to avoid it. Thankfully, we worked on that during our Aug "home school kindergarten", and I think that helped him this morning.

He's going to be exhausted! I'll keep you posted on his first full day!