End of an elementary era

R. completes elementary school in 7 1/2 days. This has been a watershed year...not the best teacher (well, he had a GREAT student teacher for the first half of the year), but a strict, routine-based teacher, which works well for R. As long as the teacher keeps chaos at bay, that's a good thing for R. We have visited the new middle school, and I hope, hope, hope all will go well there. The good news is that R. has not had any physical altercations this year, which we see as progress and development on his part. I think he is finally able to control that impulse, both at home and at school. He is also writing more and even wrote a comic book with his friends on his own time! He's finally making the connection between writing and fun...I'm so relieved. He is a little sponge...I can't tell you how many facts he knows about the US states (which one has the southernmost capital besides Hawaii? Which one has the fewest people per square foot?) and about the weather (specifically tornadoes). I am hoping that this skill will be useful to him in middle school.

So, we celebrate what he has accomplished over the past 5 years at his school, and look with guarded, hopeful eyes to the future. One day at a time...I never realized what that actually meant until R. came into my life. He is a wonder and a puzzle and my sweet boy.