it's a good day. for sooooooooo many reasons. :)

asher started school today, although if you've been lurking here lately, you knew that already. [wink] so here's how it went:

i got to the school at noon to pick him up. i went down to his class, where asher's bag was already packed and waiting for him at the door. i met the ECE (early childhood educator, who is standard now in the full-time kindergarten classes in ontario) who was lovely, and the EA (educational assistant, for asher because of his special needs), and she, too, is delightful. they were all very happy with him today. hooray!

they said that he was very good, he was well behaved, including tidying up as soon as the bell rang. (as an aside, i am now considering getting a bell to have at home. pavlov might have been on to something, methinks.) he played with lego, blocks and cars, and when i asked him if he made any friends today, he said, "yeah, brammy's friends are in my class." see, in our neck of the woods, junior and senior kindergarten are blended; bram was in mrs b's class for two years, and he had friends last year who are now in asher's class. i like this. since asher has heard all about these kids for so long, they're somewhat familiar to him, and i think this will help him to transition a little bit easier. he had a wonderful time, which thrills me to no end and makes my heart go way up.

asher wore his special vest under his shirt with his pacer protector. i had sent along a note explaining that the pad was to be worn on the bus and playground, in the gym, and during any activities during which there is a reasonable risk of his pacer getting bumped. the rest of the time, it can simply be removed and kept in a safe place. and they did that. and i was happy.

the EA said to me at one point, "i kept him in while they went outside. i hope that's ok." "oh, yeah," i reassured her, "that was part of the plan we made in june, so i fully expected him to stay in today." "oh, good," she sighed, "i'm a bit paranoid when it comes to him." i laughed and said, "probably a good idea."

i'm not sure which one of them will be joining us for the (second) intake meeting tomorrow morning. but i'm hopeful that tomorrow's meeting will be productive, that we will all be on the same page, and asher will have the best year of junior kindergarten possible. i'm not worried about the meeting; asher's dad and i will both be there, as will his paediatrician. this makes me happy, since asher has now dealt us a new layer of complexity (epilepsy). this will seal the deal on things like phys ed, the playground equipment, that sort of thing. that will be too bad for asher, but he will also have the opportunity to make friends in the other kindergarten classes and enjoy books (which he does already. how proud am i, eh?) and learn to use the computer. again, i'm hopeful that the plans we make tomorrow will allow him to thrive in a safe and creative environment for him, one in which he will not feel too centered out but in which he can just be one of the kids, all normal and happy and sparkly like he naturally is.

so there you have it. the full report on today. and now, i'm off to watch the end of MasterChef. fingers crossed for sharone. LOL