The week started with Shannon's first Religious Education class last Sunday. For the first time in a while, he was nervous about me leaving him. Usually he is Mister Independent. So that was a bit odd. And then when I brought the rest of the family back for mass, he completely lost it. He was really confused about the new schedule. When we sat down for Mass, he started melting down. He was rocking side to side and back and forth, standing when he should be sitting, sitting when he should be standing, pacing, talking loudly, wimpering. These are all behaviors that I am familiar with when Shannon is under stress. Even though he seemed to be fine during R.E., he was under the stress of meeting new people, having new authority figures, new activites, a new schedule. The whole thing was a recipe for disaster. The only saving grace was I had the foresight to take Athena to my parents house for Mass so we would both be free to handle whatever was thrown at us. But even with the extra planning, we were still unprepared for how extreme this episode was. So, not even 15 minutes in, Stacey took Shannon out to play under a tree in the front of the church.
What I wish I would have done differently: prepared my poor son for this change. It just didn't seem like a big deal to us. It was only an hour and fifteen minutes in a classroom with many kids he had already met before. I should have talked to him about it and then planned some sort of organizing activity in between R.E. and Mass.
The rest of the week just seemed to feed off of that experience. I felt tired, stressed out, unorganized. I was snappy. Shannon was snappy. Looking back, there are many things I wish I would have done differently but I just need to put it behind me and move on. Shannon and I did spend quite a bit of time praying together this past week. We prayed for patience, for rest, for the ability to make good choices. But I always felt like we were praying out of desperation.
Today, the first day of Week 7, was wonderful. And we needed a good day so badly. I planned some extra group time this morning so we could read some stories and just enjoy being a family and be thankful that we have each other. I think one of my favorite things is listening to my kids talk to God. I don't think I will ever tire of that.
Our week of bickering ended this Sunday with a family evening out. First we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Nordstroms Cafe, and then hurried over to the grand opening of the Spokane Apple Store. Stacey was looking forward to this all week and I must admit, I was pretty excited too. We are a family of geeks and proud of it. Shannon had so much fun running from iPhone to iPad, playing all the demos. A little Stacey in the making.
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| Geeking out at The Apple Store |
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