Too much.

We are still processing the awesome, amazing, miraculous news we received this week. I still just can't believe it! In the midst of that we have been dealing with some struggles. Some of the same things we saw in Elijah during last year's rough stretches are slowly popping back up. Beginning on Monday of this week I noticed the checked-out exhausted look return to his face. I've noticed the up-and-down eye fluttering a few times this week and I haven't seen that since his really rough stretch last winter. He has been waking up between 3:00 and 4:00am for the day again. That hasn't happened since last school year either. He has been much more defiant and rigid this week, as well.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rough days at school for him. He was screaming at his teacher and not being kind to classmates. I had a chat with his teacher who presented all of this to me in such a kind, positive and concerned manner. That night I laid in bed for hours pondering everything. It was worth the missed sleep because I feel like I figured out a MAJOR thing!

Full days at school are simply too much for Elijah to handle right now. We all know how rough last fall was for him. During the stretch of time after his ear surgery when he was going to school for 1/2 and 3/4 days he had NO issues at school. Then in May when he was back full-time again, he started struggling again. The day after school was done we left for our big road trip and that was rough. I piled a two-week-long vacation (way too much) on top of a month of full-time school (too much).

He did really great overall this summer once we were home and settled back in. The first two weeks of school were good. And now, on week three, things are slowly beginning to unravel. This is about when it started to happen last year.

I want to cut back Elijah's school days at least a few days a week. I KNOW this is what we need to do right now. We have tried everything under the sun to help him. We've focused on sleep, anxiety, diet, specific behaviors, etc. History shows that the only thing that has helped is not giving him TOO MUCH. What a great silver lining from a really difficult surgery and recovery! I never would have figured this out without that period of time when he was going to school for shortened days.

Elijah's awesome team at school has arranged a meeting to discuss these recent thoughts. We'll do that on Tuesday of next week. I have no idea how this will be received and what will need to happen to get what is best for Elijah. I am praying that there will be a way to shorten his school days and that his team will support us.

I feel so bad for Elijah. I feel terrible for giving him way more than he can handle and expecting him to behave appropriately on top of that. Poor guy.

Thanks for peeking in and we would greatly appreciate prayers that we can get Elijah what he needs to have a fun and successful second grade year!