Our routine has been upended because of the cast/wheelchair and that is making Matthew a little nutso and me feel full out crazy. In the mornings that Matthew doesn't have therapy, he and I take Jackson to school by car and then take Jackson in the wheelchair inside to drop off his backpack in his classroom and deposit him with friends in what they call 'the neighborhood' outside of the kinder classrooms. Not two seconds after Matthew hugs Jackson goodbye, he starts signing 'school' and whining 'i-wanna-o'. He will often cross his arms defiantly, not willing to take another step out of the 'neighborhood' much less the building. Sometimes I can coax him (ooo...would you like a snack? let's go play. how about we go to the store?), other times it is an all out meltdown as I carry him out of the school as he tries to hit and kick me. The issue is that Matthew goes to a different school, 2 hours after the big kids start, and he is an unexploded bomb waiting to go off in those 2 hours. I never know what will set him off. I am on edge until I drop Matthew off at his school.
The afternoon isn't much better. Because of the crazy car rider line, we decided the best way to get Jackson in the wheelchair would be to park near the school and remain 'back walkers' at pickup. Matthew does not like the approximate 1/4 mile walk mostly uphill to get Jackson and usually insists to be carried. Sometimes he is happy being carried, and others, he wholeheartedly makes it the most difficult 1/4 mile ever. I can't take a stroller, because we have to push Jackson's wheelchair on the way back to the car, with Matthew's 'help', which is really Matthew seeing how fast he can push Jackson down the hill while mommy holds onto the arm rests to slow it down. Fun times.
On the upside though, at home, we were carrying Jackson around because of the great probability that Matthew would ram the wheelchair into the walls, but last week I had all I could take of that and Darren brought the walker out of the attic so Jackson could get around on his own a bit. Though Matthew is quite enamoured with the walker, he hasn't freaked out about not getting to play with it as much as I anticipated. Thankfully.
So, I have been counting down-- not days till Jackson gets his cast off-- but number of 'pickups' remaining. Darren has tried to temper my excitement (4 days!!) by reminding me that Jackson will likely still need to be dropped off and picked up after his cast comes off, at least for a little while, but I am holding out hope that it won't be too much longer!
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