Last Week of Summer

 Jackson is back to school next week on Wednesday. We have finally gotten more details, I know who his teachers are at least. I am not sure how many kids will be in his class, I am hoping it's not too many but based on the picture I saw of his classroom set up I am a bit worried. We will see. I am going to try and give it two full weeks before we change anything up. Hopefully it all goes well and he does great. His teacher is new to the school which is hopeful. She won't know him from the past so he should have a clean slate. 

We spent the past week very busy. Sunday he went fishing with a friend, he didn't catch anything, threw a couple fits, swears he will never fish again, and that was it. Monday we went over to Gatineau to swim since the beaches on the Ontario side are closed. It was cold but fun, we played with a ball in the water, he swam, it was fine. Tuesday we went on a boat tour of the Thousand Islands, he really enjoyed that, even though we didn't get to sit up on the top deck and had to wear masks the whole time. It was great weather. We went to dinner with a friend from work I haven't seen since March, it was nice, though got a bit chilly. The food wasn't great, but it was still nice. 

Wednesday we went to my parents and dropped the dog off for them to watch. I think they enjoyed having him as they are dog people and haven't had one for awhile. We stayed for dinner and it was a nice little break. Then the big day came. Thursday. We drove to Toronto to the zoo. Wow, I do not like driving on big roads like that! It was a bit stressful, but we made it and had a great time at the zoo. It was a lot of walking, so many hills! Jackson really enjoyed it and thanked me many times for taking him there. 

Jackson took a lot of photos, he did a really good job at them. We ate lunch before we arrived since we had a 12:45 time to check in. It was busier than I would have liked and many people did not seem to know how to follow the arrows or stay 6 feet apart, we wore masks for certain parts. But it was a lot of fun. We stayed at a hotel that night, mostly because it was a 4 hour drive and I didn't want to drive in the dark. That's why the dog stayed with my parents. We had a rough sleep at the hotel. Apparently I was snoring and woke him up, he couldn't get back to sleep and watched his phone for a few hours before finally turning it off to try and sleep more. At one point he cried because he missed the cat so much. I wasn't very helpful I'm afraid, I was worried because I knew if I didn't at least get a decent rest I would be terrible on the road and didn't want to get into an accident. He did finally listen and just lay down and try to sleep. Funny thing was I had a hard time falling asleep because he was snoring. I think it's allergy season.

Friday we drove back to my parents to get the dog. We stopped at the big apple on the 401 and then a bit later for lunch and to put gas in the car. All in all, it was a lot of driving over the week, I don't want to go anywhere for awhile and I much prefer the vacations we take where I don't have to dive at all! But my car is lovely and at least it was easy to drive. 

Now we have a few days to fill, today being a quiet one though he is in a mood again. Apparently the cat scratched him this morning and he's been holding a grudge all day long. I don't know how to help him deal with things like this, he just holds onto hurt feelings and anger until it bursts from him and gets directed at everyone and everything around him. It's the one thing I wish I could help him with. His self confidence and self esteem have been rough since grade 2 as well, so these are the things I want to help him with. I am just not sure how to do more than I am when he refuses to participate. I am really trying to notice every time he does anything "good" and praise him for it. I try and talk to him about being thankful for what we have and how I want to share experiences and travel with him more than things. Sometimes he gets it, and other times he just explodes. It has been better the past few weeks, his explosions are fewer, maybe one a day instead of multiple times, and I hope school doesn't derail those efforts. I wish we could find a better group of friends, kids who like the same things as him, shared interests. He sometimes takes up the interests of others because they go on about it. Then he regrets it. Another thing we are working on. 

Summer is pretty much over, school starts soon. I wonder what the fall and winter will hold. Will we be able to travel. Will we be able to move. Will we be healthy.