Okay, so today was anticipated. It was mentally planned for. I was expecting some kind of recourse for the events to take place. However, what did eventually occur this morning was no where near anything I could have forseen, and with only myself to guide I was stranded and lost in a world of my eight year olds melt down in the middle of my middle sons school.
Let me start at the begining.......
Today was an inset or teacher training day for J.
O still had school, even though it was 'wear something bright' day, so no uniform.
J was thrown off kilter first thing as he was dressed in his weekend clothes, and so presumed that it was a Saturday and therefore Mencap day.
As we are driving to O's school J is becoming agitated in the car, calling out "Jamies" which is his word for Mencap.
We pull up fairly close to the gates and all get out.
On our walk into school J is calling out "wipe, wipe wipe" which is his word he uses when he is getting upset.
I am using the calming words I say to him to try to alleviate the situation, but it is not having its desired effect.
As we approach O's classroom J takes his coat off and wants to play.
I make the attempts to get him to put it back on and leave but he throws himself to the floor.
He screams a scream like a banshee on sugar coated LSD.
I manage to get him off the floor (and I am carrying W as well).
He shrugs me off and tries to run into class again.
I pull him back and he throws himself on the floor.
I get him up and he screams.
We move along the corridor two paces and he screams and starts to hit himself.
Then he drops to the floor like a tonne of bricks.
I get him up again and we move three paces before he screams and whacks his arms together hitting them hard.
This up and down, scream and hitting continues all the way back to the car.
It takes us twenty minutes to reach the car in what would usually take only three.
I would point out now that each and every other parent stared. Stared and caught flies in their open mouths.
No one offered to help. No one bothered to offer a kind smile. I was looked upon as some freak show and they had gotten in for free to view.
Back at home I could see the effect this melt down had had on J.
The area under his eyes was and still is red.
It lookes like he has been punched.
But, it obviously occured from the high levels of stress hormone, cortisol, that was released and made the blood rush to his face where it has pooled and now looks like I beat him aswell as allow him to throw a strop.
So to summise, if there had not been another one of these days off for 'training' (which could be taken in the actual holiday the following week) we would not have had this happen and my hair would not have added another crop of grey to it.
