When Words Aren't Enough

I'm almost afraid to tell you, lest I jinx it, but D. has exceeded everyone's expectations at school.

Well, that's not quite true. The director of the early childhood program apparently expected D. to be doing multiplication by now, so she's been disappointed. But the rest of us, those of us with relevant, even optimistic, expectations -- we have been flabbergasted by D's success.

It's not that we didn't expect him to succeed, it's just that his enthusiasm and his skills have astounded us.

When Mr. WG pulls up at school, D. leaps from the car with his backpack and races to class with nary a glance over his shoulder. That alone is a HUGE accomplishment. HUGE. His Shadow (we'll just call her Shadow) comes in our car, so she goes in with him, and the girls also hop out of the car and head into school. Mr. WG parks and takes Baby J. in a few minutes later.

In class, D's teacher reports that he does everything everyone else does right along with them. He comes to circle time, he lines up to go to gym or recess or art or whatever, and he is Just Plain Amazing in how ordinary he is.

Shadow was an absolutely inspired choice, by the way. She is nothing short of incredible with D., and she has integrated into the classroom so well you would think she had years of experience in this job.

When Mrs. Block came to observe the other day, she said that she feels D. is doing well enough that Shadow should take a step back and let D. initiate more contact with his peers. So that's our focus now, and it's just amazing to think that by the end of this year, someone who didn't know might not realize how amazing D. is.