Progress

Today was Day 2 of the M.D.O. Experience, and I am pleased to report that things went much better today than they did on Tuesday.

We got to the church a few minutes early, so Alex was able to wander the halls a bit and warm up to the building, say "hi" to the fish, climb the stairs, ride the elevator...Despite his "traumatic" experience earlier in the week, it was by no means one of those situations like when you take a dog to the vet, and before you even walk in the door, the dog recognizes where he is, freaks out, and attempts to claw his way back to the car. He didn't mind being in the hallway, but he did panic a little when I tried to usher him into his classroom, like he finally understood that I was planning on leaving him there. I casually mentioned Tuesday's milk situation to his teacher, and long story short, she assured me that he would get his milk today. The teacher scooped Alex up so I could run away without him following me, and he cried, as expected, although not as hysterically as he had the day before.

I left and ran a bunch of errands, the five hours between nine and two flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to go back and pick Alex up. I'll admit, my stomach was in knots during the ride to the church and I just couldn't get there fast enough. I speedwalked to his classroom, trying not to look too anxious, and when I peeked in the window, his teacher opened the door and invited me in. Weird. Normally, when it's time to pick your kid up, you just flash your security card in the window and they bring the kid out. However, it seems that Alex had such a good time that he was still napping, and when I say "napping", I mean he was completely passed out in the middle of the floor, tangled in his blanket, with his face smooshed into the carpet. There were only two kids playing in the front of the room, which means that he slept as the rest of the kids woke up, played, and then left with their parents, one-by-one. He's a good napper at home, rarely sleeps less than a full two hours, and it seems he would sleep for two hours on the classroom floor if they would let him.

So as he continued to lie there, I chatted with his teacher about how his day went, and she said that he had done so much better, that he cried for a little while when he first got there, but then he calmed down, had fun the rest of the day, ate a good lunch, and went down for his nap. Yay! What a relief! I knew it would get better, or at least hoped so, but didn't know how long it would take. He still has a little way to go, in terms of being happy when I drop him off, but any progress is good enough for me. It would be nice if, as suggested, I could send him with something that would comfort him while I'm gone, but the kid doesn't seem to be attached to anything other than me. It's funny, I don't really think of him as a mama's boy because whenever I take him anywhere where there are other people, he could care less about what I am doing. In fact, he will take care to go the opposite direction from where I am because I'm not nearly as interesting as new stuff and new people. It's just when I leave and he no longer has the option to be with me that upsets him. I guess it's one of those "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" situations...

Anyway, I had to pull out the ol' bullhorn to rouse Alex from his slumber because, seriously, the kid was virtually comatose when I tried to shake him awake. When I gently tapped him on the shoulder and whispered his name, he whined and turned his head the other direction, obviously hoping I would go away and let him sleep. I swear, I would not have been surprised if he had reached up and slapped me in the head like a snooze button. I finally picked him up and tried to get him to the car while he was still sleeping, which, of course, woke him up. He was more confused than happy to see me, but whatever, I was just happy that he had had a better day.

Don't you love how I ramble on and on about something that could be summed up in two sentences? You know, something like, "Alex did much better at school today. He cried a little at the beginning, but then he calmed down and had so much fun playing that he was still asleep when I picked him up." Yeah, that pretty much covers it. Next time, I'll just start with the abbreviated version, then if anyone wants more details, they can read on. It's like Cliff's Notes for babyevansblog. Hmm, I may be onto something...