An update on him. And her.

We're finishing up Liam's second full week of school today, and I don't know what to think. He claims to like it. He claims to like it more than he likes Cindy's, which he likes. And yet, there are little signs that make me worry.

Until this week, he came home with almost his entire lunch uneaten each day, and told us he didn't have enough time to eat it. (Thankfully, he almost cleared his lunch bag out on Tuesday, so I'm hoping things are settling down for him.) He tells us that he doesn't know the names of any of the kids in his class. He tells us that he doesn't talk to them. (He doesn't tell us these things outright, of course; we have to coax them out of him.) I don't think he is using the bathroom at school and I even wonder if he is purposely not drinking so he won't have to use it. The Before and After program also has me a little underwhelmed right now. It's in a large vesitbule area of the school, and they always have different activities/toys/craft centers out for the kids to play with, but there is one supervisor there for the kids (always less than 10, that I have seen) and she is not interacting with them all that much. Which is fine and well for the older kids, but a pretty major change for Liam.

To compound things, Liam's teacher has been on a leave of absence since his first day of school. She will be back next week. In the meantime, he tells us he doesn't know the name of the teacher he has had. And I'm a bit surprised that there's been no contact from the school to keep us posted on the situation.

On Friday night Liam came home and threw the biggest fit of his entire life. Kicking, screaming, bawling, and outright defying me. My first thought was that something bad had happened at school, and that he was taking it out on me. In hindsight, I don't think that was the case; I think he was just utterly exhausted and stressed, and I got the short end of the stick. He has been a bit grumpier than usual every day for these past few weeks. Even if things are going swimmingly at school, there is still some adjustment to be expected, and I am OK with that. I just wish that I knew more.

Tonight there is a 'Meet the Staff' night but, since Liam's teacher is on leave, I am not sure how much we will get out of it. I don't know if his substitute teacher will be there. I don't even know if he's had the same sub every day. Even if there has been one consistent sub, the event is 45 minutes long and there are two kindergarten classes sharing a common teacher... so it's not like we will have a ton of face time with her. If Liam had had his intended teacher since the start of the year, I would feel OK calling to set up a time to talk to her. But since he hasn't, I feel like I have to let a few more weeks go by before I start investigating.

I just wish someone could tell me how he is doing, assure me that he is not standing alone in a corner on the playground, confirm that he is not afraid to use the bathroom, and otherwise set my mind at ease. I didn't expect starting school to be this hard. And I don't even know if anything is wrong yet.

(Nix the update on her. I will save it for another day.)