It may be contagious

Chase has had a rough week. First we took him to get his haircut and the lady misunderstood my directions and pretty much shaved him bald. I was over on the other side of the store explaining what to do with Cooper so I didn't see it until it was halfway done. I could tell Chase was trying not to cry but what could I do. At that point the lady had shaved the top of his head and he had very large bush around the tops of his ears. Rogaine would have liked to contract him for commercials.
Fortunately for Chase, he is a very handsome boy. Hair or no hair.

Unfortunately, hair is large part of the way you see yourself and apparently Chase thinks of himself as a handsome boy with hair.

He cried for 3 hours. "I will not go to school. I will not go to church. I will not go to Lacrosse." We finally made him come to dinner with us as we were going with Grandpa Chuck but he wore a hat the whole time. And he was not very happy.

That was last weekend. He then entered into the last week of school. With a hat on. Saying good-bye to a favorite teacher is a hard thing. Chase loves Ms. Payne.......to death. He still talks about her crying every day since the last day of school. I think it was a very emotional milestone for him simply moving on from seeing Ms. Payne every day of his little life. Not to mention that he graduated from 6th grade and elementary school. Tuesday night I got a call from Ms. Payne saying that Chase was to receive an award at the end of school assembly on Wednesday and I was invited. Glad she thought to invite me. But Chase was awarded the Leadership Award for the 6th grade boys. He didn't cry about the award but I got a little choked up. I know that these awards mean nothing in life. People can make 180 degree turns at any time of their life. Going from having a hard time in school to becoming a contributing participant in society or just as easily going the other way. But I just liked to see that he could stand in front of a crowd and not pick his nose or scratch his balls. I just liked that I actually liked my son and I was proud of him. I just liked that he was enjoying his life and soaking up experiences.

Unfortunately he knows about the next experience of his life at the charter school and he may not like me for very much longer. Now that he is officially going to Jr. High he has been pestering me every day to find out what school he is headed for. Tuesday I received my first call from one of the charter schools that I had signed them up for. Ryan and Chase were officially invited to register for the 2007-2008 school year. Was I still interested? You bet your bottom dollar I was. When I told Chase, the tears were immediate. And long lasting.

Fortunately I was able to take him and his two friends to the school on Thursday to pick up registration papers. I say fortunately because he was able to no longer imagine the worst. He would be at least aware of the truth of the matter. And yes, I was so pleased for that moment of pride when he graduated from 6th grade because the was he interacted with the school counselor and the principal was humiliating. "I'm not going to this school. I'm not going to this school. I'm not going to this school." He just kept on saying. He wouldn't barely acknowledge their questions and I had to just sit and take it all in as the mother of this child who was living through the most emotional week of his life......so far.

But today he is all better out playing with his friends. Free for the summer. And I am the one feeling blue. And I wonder if it just really is contagious.