When Life Gets Too Hard, Just Hide Under Your Bed

This morning it was still dark when I took Sirius out for his morning walk, and it will get darker still as it is now the school season and not long before we turn our clocks back. I think Elliott would like the idea of "turning the clocks back" and changing his situation a bit. "I wish I was 4 and in preschool still" Elliott said in the backseat of the van yesterday as we drove home from school. Not long after, when he thought about it a little longer, he changed his thought to, "I wish I was still one." Yes, life was probably safer, simpler and more fun being one when you got to ride in a stroller, point to clocks and go on your merry way sightseeing around the house and yard and coming to check on Mommy and get hugs and water. I cajoled Elliott out from under the temporary safety which Elliott felt his bed provided this morning. There were tears coming down his face and he asked if his teacher was going to be at after school care, where Elliott waits for a half hour while I help with carpool upstairs. It's hard for little active boys who get reprimanded because they so quickly forget not to run, not to talk, not to be silly during most of the school day. Their bodies scream for action and their minds are so quick to follow. Elliott is sensitive and it will take time to adjust and learn that he can get a drink during recess, but not during circle time. In time, one day maybe he will say, "I wish I were 5 and in Kindergarten," but the time is not now and I am doing my best to guide him and come along side him as he grows and learns. He's not the only one that has shed a few tears. In a family, a change for one person is shared by all, and I feel his struggle, but I know he'll come through all right.