Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

We've got a whole lot of change going on here at the Crazy Train in the next couple of weeks.  I know you've heard the whole "change is good" nonsense that people like to spew about.  Hell, even I make this comment from time to time!  But I don't usually say this in reference to me and mine.  At my house, change is most decidedly B. A. D.  Change isn't what makes the world go 'round-- it's what brings the world to a screeching halt for my Crazies.  Change makes Princess and Birdie grumpy and tearful, and makes mama want to hide in the closet with ice cream or wine!  Somehow, Hubby tends to score more hours at the office during times of change, and therefore misses out on most of the excitement.  I'm thinking this is not a coincidence.  Regardless, you get the point-- change and I aren't on good terms.  At least not most of the time.  Change does have it's moments-- just not very often!

(not my photo)

For those of you that know me personally, you are probably aware that for many months my family was waiting to find out if my husband's job was going to make us move-- again.  For like the hundredth time.  Give or take.  Fortunately, this is one change we will NOT have to endure over the next few weeks!  Hubby's new job assignment will keep us here a bit longer-- yay!-- but it is still a new job.  Most likely, this new job will not have Hubby travelling as much as the assignment he is finishing up.  I am pretty sure this is a good thing.  The kids will be a lot happier having him here more regularly, and the consistency of his presence will be less stressful for them than the constant coming and going of his current job.  I have to admit, though, that is going to be a little weird having him home nearly every night for dinner.  I think this is great, but this hasn't been the state of our marriage in a long, well, uhhh never?!  I hope he still likes me after having to see me every single day for weeks on end!  We shall see. *wink*

Not only is Hubby starting a new job, but there is the little matter of school starting.  Third grade, no less!  Oh maaaannnn!  More homework, more subjects, more responsibility, more writing.  Also, more frustration, more crying, more shouting, and more anxiety-- and that's just how it will affect me!  I can't even imagine how the kids will fair!  I do know, however, that it usually takes a month or more for Princess and Birdie to fully settle into the school schedule and really start to not complain about look forward to being there.  A month isn't that long, right?!  Again, we shall see.

Also, with the beginning of school comes the beginning of my new job!  This is a bit of change that makes very happy, but is also not exempt from inducing stress.  I am actually a bit nervous, if you can believe it!  I will be working at my daughters' elementary school, just like when I was a substitute teacher.  My new role, however, will be as a resource assistant.  Translation:  I will help a special education case manager provide his students with their IEP-defined accommodations, whatever they may be.  More specifically, I will be assigned to one very special Kindergartener for the first five hours of each work day.  This is the part I'm stressed about-- this one little boy.

Don't laugh.

Me, on the inside of course!

I not afraid of this little boy, about whom I know little to nothing-- not his name, nor how he looks, nor if he's shy.  I only know that of all the kids in his Kindergarten class, he will have the very coolest chair-- wheelchair, that is.  I am not intimidated by his disability, nor am I worried about whether or not I will be able to do my job-- if I can handle my children, I can handle anything!  What worries me is that we might not hit it off.  I have thought about this waaaayyy too much, but honestly-- if he doesn't like me, then school is really going to suck for him.  A lot.  I could very well be the linchpin of his educational experience this year, and he might think I'm just plain awful.  Or terribly annoying.  Or NOT FUNNY!!  *gasp*  If he doesn't like me, he will probably not like school either!  Oh dear lord, I don't know if I can handle this kind of pressure!

Seriously, though, I do hope we hit it off.  It sure would make life a lot easier for both of us!  I am extremely excited about this opportunity.  My grandmother had the exact same job many years ago, working as the resource assistant to a young man that had MD.  (Read the article I wrote about this here.)  She was with him from Kindergarten until he graduated high school, and she loved every single minute of it.  I am sure I will too, but not before I have worried myself to death over it for the next few weeks.

Ha!  It occurs to me that I am having anxiety akin to what my kids have at he start of every school year...  poor babies!  I have a new found sympathy for their worries.  Unlike them, though, I can drink am better at coping than they are!  Maybe.