Subsequent Days

Day 2 went pretty well.  Samantha had some hits and misses throughout the day, including a lot of pouting and a flat-out refusal to participate in gym.  But who could really blame her?  I hated gym.  Although that was more towards Junior High and High School...  But I still hated it.  Her teacher did manage to convince her to at least go into the gym and sit on the bleachers to watch.  If she does that every time, I'm sure it'll just be a matter of time before she wants to participate.

I hope.

One of the cool things about her week (well, cool for me, anyway...) is that one of my favorite bloggers, Chris, from Riding the Crazy Train, actually gets to spend about an hour or two with Sammi each week in class.  I expect glowing reports to be forthcoming...  Actually, I ran into Chris this morning when I was dropping Samantha, and...(yes, I actually meant "dropping" Samantha - she was doing her awe-inspiring but thankfully-not-too-frequent-anymore flop-and-drop routine in the hall at school, I picked her up in her cross-legged position, and she went limp again, slipping through my hands the 8 inches or so to thud to the floor. There would be far fewer abductions, both adult and child alike, if we could *all* learn how to do that and just magically slip through the fingers of the abductor!)...and she said that by the end of the day yesterday, Sammi was pretty much done.  In my opinion, and just in relation to Sammi's strengths, the daily schedule for 1st grade is a little bit backwards (I'm sure it's just perfect for the majority of the students, though).  Reading and writing take up the bulk of the morning hours, before lunch.  After lunch, they do math, and then the specials, such as art, music, gym, etc.  All those things that Sammi couldn't really care less about.  Because reading and writing are actually Sammi's favorite things to do, they would certainly keep her engaged through the afternoon hours. 

That being said, it is only now Day 3 of school, and as I'd said before, the routine will become just that...routine.  She'll get the hang of it, and will eventually rise to the occasion to shine, as she usually does. 

And now, just a little sweetness for your day, with photos of Sammi and her BFF, Lilly, playing together on Saturday afternoon.  While Lilly's mom and I sat down in the dining room, talking, Sammi and Lilly went upstairs to play in Sammi's room.  After some time had passed with no thuds or screams, Lilly's mommy went up to check on them.  Hurrying back downstairs, she asked me to come quickly, and bring my camera.  There, in the middle of the room, static dance music blasting from Samantha's Hello Kitty radio, the two of them were having a dance party to put John Travolta to shame. 

I just love seeing them together.  We're hoping to schedule their first sleepover soon - it's the first thing Samantha asks about when she wakes up in the morning, and the last thing she talks about when she goes to bed at night.  Think she's excited?