1 week of school down..

Well the first week of full time school for Miss A. Monday wasn't too bad as she seemed happy to let me go. Pick up was okay but she wasn't too happy with the idea of going back. Tuesday was hard as she had no aide in the class. At pick up I knew things weren't going well and by the time we got home she was having a meltdown. She kept screaming how much she hated school and she hated me taking her.
On Wednesday I spoke to her teacher and asked to have a meeting to get some strategies in place and to make sure the teacher knows what to do when she meltdowns. Thursday and Friday were up and down. I had to carefully manage her behaviour at drop off and pick up. She wanted to go to the park on Friday after school and all went well until another girl upset her and they went at each other. There was no backing down there and I rushed to intervene. Cue violent meltdown. Kicking, thrashing, screaming you name it. As she gets bigger and older I cant sit behind and hold her. She head butts me while thrashing and often tries to get out of my arms. Now I put her into the "turtle" position and lie over her. It also helps block out lights and sounds.

                                   Our new meltdown hold as used at home with a beanbag.

Saturday was the eye opener though. The day had been going calmly when all 5 of us headed to the shops. We were almost ready to leave when we stopped at a little play area in the middle of the shops. All 3 kids were playing well until another girl started disagreeing with Miss A. She got angry so quickly and we had to take her out of the play area. This started the biggest meltdown we have ever had to deal with. I could barely hold onto A and even after 20 minutes she was still hysterical and crying uncontrably. Andrew had to step in to carry her to the car. That's when I looked down and saw 2 buttons undone on my shirt. Like we weren't already putting on enough of a show right :)

So this Friday we have an IEP (individual education plan) meeting to put some strategies in place to ensure this doesn't continue. Especially as today she had a  meltdown at drop off and no one knew what to do and there was no aide...