Closing One Door and Opening Another

Our 11-year old starts middle school tomorrow and I feel both optimism and trepidation.

Middle school means increased demands, less breaks and changing social dynamics.

For a child with FASD and ADHD like T, I worry about how seemingly small changes will impact him: no recess, managing items in a locker with a combination lock, lunch in the cafeteria instead of the classroom, and rotating classrooms by subject.

I’m mindful that FASD is a little known invisible disability and that behavioral symptoms are often misunderstood by grownups and peers – and now that he’s not a small kid anymore, the societal response will change.

I think about how this is an age when kids seek social acceptance and I pray for positive peer influences and supportive adults for T.

I laugh when I think back to conversations with Pa, who once told me that I would understand one day why a parent never stops worrying.

We took it slow this summer with T – focusing on relaxation – and to bank many fun memories to lean on when the frenzy of middle school arrives.

It was T’s final summer at his daycare – a place he had spent 7 years at – and a space filled with caring staff who were incredibly supportive of T.

During T’s last week at the end of August, the hubby and I treated the kids and staff to a pizza lunch – to celebrate his last day.

I could tell T was sad, but we reminded him that change is part of life – when one door closes, another opens.

Just like T made good friends and memories at daycare, I promised him he will make new ones.

We let him play at the park one last time – and one of the friends he had known since Grade 1 played with him. She was also leaving the daycare.

This afternoon, the hubby, T and I will drive to T’s new school. We want to familiarize ourselves with the new route and to see which door T would enter through on his first day tomorrow morning.

The hubby was anxious all summer about getting T to learn to tie laces and use a combo lock – the latter of which he figured out right away.

We do not know for certain what lies ahead when T steps through the new door tomorrow.

But whatever lies ahead, we will figure it out together, as we always do, one step at a time.

Photo at top: The beautiful Percé Rock in Quebec feels like staring through a time portal.