I cannot believe how proud I am of my son. He constantly surprises me!

We had a "Meet the Teacher" day last Thursday. Sean left work early and the three of us headed over to the Elementary School so that we could meet Ian's teacher and I could ask my long list of questions. I was nervous because of how badly Ian handled his last transition (granted he was about three years old then), and I had that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

We were the first people there so Ian was able to take everything in slowly. It took all of about 30 seconds before he zeroed in on a little house they have set up in the corner, and he dove right in! From there he went to the kitchen center, and then he went over to draw a picture, leaving me to talk to the teachers. I got all of my questions answered (nap time, lunch, breakfast, rules, communication), and we hung out in the room for about 30 minutes after that. Ian showed off his skills and his teacher remarked that he seemed a bit advanced for the class, so she's going to work on giving him some more challenging things to do.

I left there feeling much better and we went out to dinner to celebrate!

Monday morning Sean and I took Ian together and I had that icky feeling in my stomach again. I just couldn't get over the fact that my little guy was ready to start "Big Boy school"! We parked in the lot with about 5,000 other shell-shocked parents and walked Ian to class. I held his hand so tightly I thought he'd complain, but he was so excited to be going to school he didn't seem to mind. He had his own backpack which he kept checking to be sure everything was still inside, and he kept asking about his cousins (two of them go to the same school as he does).

We got to his room and he was, once again, the first one there. He walked right in, put his backpack in his cubby, and headed to the kitchen center. I had to remind him to give me a kiss, and after that he was basically done with me, LOL!

Today went just as smoothly. He was the first one there and started talking to his teacher about the Manatees on the door and asking questions about the weather. He seems to be right at home and I feel like I'm going to burst with pride!

Anyone who knows my son knows about his behavior problems and his severe inability to handle change of any kind. He gets over-stimulated quickly and has a hard time dealing with chaos, as well as any disruption to what (or who) he knows. Seeing him this week has made me realize that he really is growing up and is learning how to deal with situations in a much more mature fashion.

I'm reminded of a few people who called themselves my 'friends' only to turn around and bash my son and my parenting skills to other people. If only they could see what a bright, confident, caring child my boy is... especially because I have heard that their children aren't so wonderful after all....