Restoring

To say that the past few weeks have been challenging would be an understatement.  Change has a way of knocking on the door whether you are ready or not (I should have learned that when Colin was born!).  Unfortunately, the kids have also gone through some shifts in routine and structure and will take awhile to rebuild that again.  However, so many bright spots to the difficulties are very slowly emerging.  I am amazed at the resiliency of so many people that have done they can to help others when they themselves have suffered loss.  I am so proud to be a part of a community that is doing what they can to help make individuals, families, homes, towns, boardwalks, etc. what they once were.  

While my kids do not know directly what has happened, they have showed their difficulties to the adjustments in a couple of different ways.  Kailey has been incredibly whiny and needy (which was also induced by a cold) and has become a bit more dramatic when things don't go exactly how she wants them too.  However, once her school reopened this past Monday, they have done an amazing job in keeping things as structured and "routine" as possible which has certainly helped.  

Colin on the other hand, has definitely made some steps backwards in progress we had made.  We have had to put a halt on the potty training because in timing with the storm hitting, he would just cry when we would put him on the potty even though he hadn't been like that.  Then we were on the move and things were constantly changing, so we just decided to wait to start it up again when things were "normal".  While he hasn't necessarily been bad, his behavior hasn't been what it was like before and one of the biggest changes we have seen has been bedtime.  I have  never heard the crying and screaming from him regarding bedtime EVER that he has put on in the past week.  His bedtime has been so late and it takes a lot of work to get him to fall asleep.  He has even woken up a few times in the middle of the night screaming "NO!".  

Since Colin's public school preschool program has been closed for two weeks, we were hoping that being in the daycare would at least help get back to some sort of routine.  However, the entire week he was put into a different classroom with kids that were 5 & 6 (and maybe some a bit older).  Most of the kids in his class were in a different room and when I asked about it, there was no reasoning as to why that was the case.  The one day at the end of the week when I dropped him off, he screamed such bloody murder (never happened before, anywhere) and NO ONE went over to comfort him while I left.  I ended up only leaving him there for an hour and a half and then went and got him because I couldn't take it anymore.  We ended up withdrawing him from the school yesterday and honestly feel like it's a weight that has been lifted from our shoulders.  We are so excited that he will be going back to the place we love and the one he has been in since he was a baby.  We of course have some logistics to work out since it is out of district, but it was something that needed to be done because he was unhappy and there were a LOT of things that have been building with time.  WE were unhappy and knew it wasn't best for him.  Maybe that contributed to sleeping problems??

It seems like things will be resuming on Monday, so we are so looking forward to getting him back in our "normal" routine again.  I know that for ALL of the kids in our area, they need routine and structure again in their lives...(I know that I do too!)

Colin's Preschool Picture...so serious!!