Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01723

Tonight was back to school or family night at Brennan for Andy. We all went to check out the school and meet Andy’s teachers. There was a presentation int he cafetorium and then we went to the classroom area for a teacher presentation. There was also a choir song in the front lobby. Everyone that we met was very nice. Andy enjoys their teachers and the enjoy Andy. We’ve received some very nice emails from the teachers regarding Andy. It is nice to see Andy thriving and making friends.

We met one of Andy’s friends and her mom. We had actually known who the mom was because we used to walk each morning and see the mom and her dog. So, we actually finally formally met her. They live around the corner from us and Andy and the daughter are going to walk home together tomorrow. Andy had better put on running shoes because Maia likes to be the first out the door of the school at the end of the day.

Andy has also been enjoying the trombone. We rented one for Andy for the start of the school year, but a family friend posted that they were selling one and I caught the Facebook post and snatched it up for a great price. Allison took this photo and sent to me while I was with Eva at Jr. Krav. The caption was “Our neighbors are gonna hate us.” Andy was not at Jr. Krav because Andy decided that it is not longer something that they’d like to do. Last week Andy did sparring for the first time and that triggered some very panicky moments. Not a full on panic attack but some major anxiety over sparring. This Tuesday Andy and Eva worked together for the class and I could tell that something was bothering Andy. We discussed it and decided that Andy could withdraw from Jr. Krav. We’ll double up on Rock climbing and each Tuesday and Thursday when I take Eva to class Andy will practice the trombone. We’re also encouraging Andy to get involved with some school clubs once they start up in October.

After the Back to School night we went to Bliss because it was late and also because there was a fund raiser for Brennan there that night.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01625

Tonight Eva helped Andy work on a Dungeons and Dragons character. Andy has a friend at Jr. Krav who plays D & D and he invited Andy to play in his campaign. Andy went to Eva for help creating their character. It was really nice to see the two of them working on the character together after dinner.

Today was the last day of school for both kids. I picked up Eva and some of her friends and drove them over to get Boba Tea. They then hung out at the house for a while afterwards. She has a great group of kids that she has become friends with this year.

I took Eva’s friends home and then we went to Jr. Krav. Andy has a friend there named Isaac and Isaac partners with Andy often. They have fun together in class and are able to talk about a bunch of things that they are interested in. Dungeons and Dragons is one of those things and this has gotten Andy very excited. So, I am glad that today would end on a positive note.

On the opposite end we had Andy’s last day. In all honesty today was most likely Andy’s last day at SMSH. One of Andy’s classmates had a pool party. Knowing how Andy’s class has been such jerks to Andy all year I went to the party and stayed. I stayed and witnessed just how awful these kids were to Andy. Throwing pool toys at Andy, spraying Andy, saying the pool was “contaminated” because Andy was in the pool. At one point a kid was hitting Andy with pool noodles and then hit them rather hard. I got up and walked over to the edge of the pool. I crouched down, crooked my finger at the kid who did it and said. “There’s having fun and there’s being a dick. You’re being a dick!”

I never wanted to punch a group of 11 year-olds in the face more in my life, except maybe when I had that sort of shit happen to me as a kid. Andy took things in stride but these kids targeted Andy because Andy is different than them. I know that they were targeting Andy because I overheard them say that Andy was there and they were gonna beat his ass. I did not see the kids who said it but heard it immediately upon arrival.

We left early so that I could take Eva’s friends home before Jr. Krav. I was grateful for that excuse to duck out. Andy and I talked on the way home. This has been Andy’s every day for this past year and much longer. Almost the entire class has ostracized Andy and singled Andy out to tease and torment. Andy has one good friend at the school. That’s not enough to make it through and not enough to stand up to all the abuse Andy is suffering. The class will not change, nothing will be done regarding the bullying. Andy has no recourse available. We’re beside ourselves with anger and sadness over how our boy is being treated and how little we can do about it. Changing schools is a drastic measure but I think is our only option at this point, remove Andy from this toxic environment. Andy deserves to be safe and happy. That cannot happen where they are currently.

Our afternoon went better.