The Po Show

The Other Stuff

I so don't want this to become a standing record of how Matthew is doing so poorly and Tessa is doing so well. That's how things start to sound, especially when I'm talking about school, and these are the events that are foremost in my mind since they have the greatest immediate impact on our lives, but it's not the whole picture.

The funny thing is, and I remark on this often, is that Tessa is a much bigger pain in the ass on a daily basis than Matthew (well, my ass of course; she's the model citizen at school). He more or less goes through life with his video games and his books and looking up stuff online. He mostly gets his own snacks and drinks. He doesn't whine, and at home, he rarely gets out of control. He never ever hits Tessa, even though she can be REALLY annoying. Tessa on the other hand is six years old (7 in just over 2 months!) and whining is her vernacular. She is still just a big pile of "I want this" and "Watch this, Mom" and great dramatic overreactions.

I also want to remark on the effect Matthew has on people, in particular the teachers who work with him everyday. One of the most striking things said at his conference the other day was when the inclusion teacher said that working with him this year has been amazing, that he has taught them so much about teaching. She said that he should know that, that they are so glad they have had the opportunity to work with him, because he has taught them so much about being teachers. I've mentioned before that he has always managed to draw teachers to him (well, with the exception of his teacher last year :p), to make them want to dedicate themselves to helping him, by impressing them so much with his sweetness and his intelligence and his inner pain. It is incredibly gratifying to me that these teachers can look past his tantruming and inflexibility and all of his other difficulties, and truly appreciate what a special child he is. His aide told me the other day that she wants to follow his entire life, to see what happens in it, that she can't wait to see what he accomplishes.

We travel a hard road, but we are not alone.