This time of year was always difficult for all my children especially when they were younger. My son had more difficulty. This was because there were many changes to the normal schedule, I remember counting the amount of "special events" that last month of school. There were over 20, "IN SECOND GRADE! That was also the year he was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. It had not been a good year at school! There was no way he could handle that much change after a long, long school year. You may ask, "How can you have 20 special events in the month of May?" It's not unusual. Here were some of them: Pioneer Day, Class Picnic, special assembly, sing for residents of a nearby Seniors facility, Portfolio Night, field trips, Field Day, May Day, Cinco De Mayo celebration, track and field day. You probably can relate.
The problem we faced is my son could not handle that amount of upheaval. It was special and a great break of normal routine for many of his classmates. BUT NOT HIM!! He thrived on the routine of a "boring" school day. What were we to do? My husband and I volunteered for some of the events that we felt he should participate. On the others, he had a vacation day! It de-stressed my son's life but it did the same for me. I couldn't do any more school events so both of us had a break.
So how do you advocate for your child? Determine what he should participate in and make alternative arrangements for the things that aren't as big a value to you or him. Don't feel an ounce of guilt. In the course of his life, he will be just fine if he didn't do field day in second grade! Take a deep breath and enjoy life by making the choice that "less is more!"
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