21 July 2020. The day we moved schools.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this post. We have experienced negative responses before and as a result I’ve held my cards closer to my chest. But I feel like it’s time. Time to worry less about the negativity and focus on the good. So after great turmoil we made the big decision to move Cooper from our beloved Lenswood Primary School. Now I know plenty of parents have moved their children to different school before we aren’t the first but this was such an emotional decision for us (mostly for me and my connections) for many reasons and we had so many doubts. My whole family went to Lenswood and we all loved our time there, so how could it not be the right fit for Cooper when it was so right for the rest of us? How could we take him away from his cousins? He loves them. How do we know if the grass will actually be greener on the other side if we decide to actually go through with it? Is It better the devil we know? How could he cope in a new environment? He hates change at the best of times. We have an incredible principal (at last!) someone who understands him and knows how to get support in place to assist him in the best way possible. Why would we want to leave that? And hardest of all how on earth could we ever take him from a school where he had the best SSO on earth? She has become a part of our family and has his back like I’ve never seen before. She almost knows him better than we do. And as I write this I have tears. Without our beautiful Kylie we certainly wouldn’t have seen out this long we might never find someone as incredible as her so why would we want to give that up?
So why move him you ask?
It sound like so many positives that we should keep him where he is familiar, in a routine and not rock the boat. But for every positive we also had our struggles. Bridges were broken and we couldn’t heal wounds. We know our boy is “different” and we are absolutely ok with that, so why were we trying to get him the square peg to fit in the round hole? We all know the shit show that 2020 has brought us, between the bushfires and the recovery of our black town to Covid and not knowing what the future had in store. SO we decided while life was messy we may as well make it that bit harder on us all and do it now, what the heck!? With any luck we might see a happy boy grow from this. Worst case scenario it’s a total disaster and we can go running back to Kylie, right?! With a little bit of hope he might make a friend. He might not be “too different” that he might be included in playdates or birthday parties. He might develop the skills to read and unlock that magical key to his incredibly smart little brain that will blow his mind with what he can learn all by himself. To have a different perspective. A better understanding. Acceptance. Best case scenario, we just want him to feel safe.
So today I did his hair and Austin told he was looking very handsome for his new school and wished him a good day. We rolled grounding oil on his neck and hugged it out and my brave boy started at his new school without knowing anyone, without a security blanket, knowing it was all new and all scary and different.And you know what he absolutely killed it!! Not a tear. Not from him anyway, mum might have shed one or two in the car and a couple more at home. I might be talking too soon, as it’s not even lunch time but I’m hoping this is the best hardest decision we have had to make. And I’m hoping we don’t have to make any decisions like this again anytime soon! It’s no bloody wonder I have shingles!
