Some Pleasant Changes

As expected there have been many changes that went on at home while I was overseas. Some not so good, but some have turned out to be very good. One of the biggest changes has been with my son, Tyler. When I left Ty hated going to school, doing homework, or pretty much doing anything that took him away from his toys and being around the house. Like myself the little guy has a speech issue which made him shy and withdrawn around people. It also causes him to miss some of his classes at school while he is working with his speech pathologist. Sometimes that makes him feel a bit awkward. Tyler's a smart boy though (his grandpa tells him that's because his genius skipped my generation) and his teachers always tell me how much his vocabulary impresses them. I have to admit, he gets most of that from listening to adults talking, he's quite the observant kid.

Since returning home I have happily found out this past week that Tyler loves going to school now days. So much so that he was a little ticked off the unit didn't return on a weekend because he was missing classes, didn't know? In the mornings he's always eagerly awaiting for me to finish my coffee so we can get moving and he can go to school. Thanks to my mom, his grades have improved dramatically and this has resulted in Tyler having a lot more confidence than he used to. In addition to that, he stared expressing an interest in joining more activities, learning more in general, and even surprised everyone by joining the elementary school's singing group without telling anyone until he found out he made the cut-off. Overall he's a much happier boy than when I left.

This afternoon was the school's annual Fall musical program. I had asked Tyler yesterday morning if he thought I should bring my Nikon or my video camera. I haven't seen his eyes get that bright in ages, and he told me the video camera so we can make it into a movie for the DVD player. The program was really cute, not too long in length, and Tyler was smiling the whole time after I waved to him so he'd know I was there (I keep threatening to be the obnoxious parent but for some reason Tyler and his sister don't want to be "embarrassed"). The only thing I would have changed about this afternoon is I need to find a better place to stand if I'm going to shoot video (and bring my tripod next time).

Over all though, despite a rocky start last week being home is turning out to be really good all around. My little boy is happy, my daughter is happy, and our little family is finding its routine.

~~~

PS - I have Rip Its!