Monday, July 19, 2010

I don't think they know what they're getting into....

.....on Friday, Simon came home from school with a permission slip. They are planning a field trip to an outdoor concert, just a short distance away from the school. ARE THEY NUTS!?!?!?!?!?!?! I know how Simon handles shows. And his school has been informed about this as well, as we worked with them while we prepared (or attempted to prepare) Simon for that Laurie Berkner Band concert in May.

There are outdoor concerts near his school every Thursday morning. I had been debating keeping Simon out of school to take him to one of these performances (and then bring him to school after we left the show [at it's end or earlier]), but I haven't done this to date. We know he needs to learn how to handle performances. The field trip includes (1)walking over there (2) attending the concert and finally (3) walking back to school when it's over. I repeat myself from earlier in this post....ARE THEY NUTS!?!?!?!?!?! Simon will have SO MUCH trouble with this.

They are asking parents, if they are available, to come help out. I am unavailable -- the time I'd be required to be there I'll be getting Daniel to HIS camp. The alternative is taking Daniel to the concert. Dealing with Simon will take all of my attention. If I drop Daniel off at his camp, by the time I arrive there, I'd just be in the way and getting Simon started again, IF they'd managed to calm his down. And to be honest, I don't want to see this. I remember all of our previous experiences with this and it's just simply heartbreaking.

I really want him to attend this concert. I don't know the group performing (which will make preparing him for the experience a bit more difficult), but it's an experience he NEEDS. But how do I set him up for the torture that I know that experience will be for him?

When I went to pick the twins up today, I spoke with the Education Coordinator there, bringing up my concerns about this concert and mentioning my desire for him to attend the trip. She reassured me that they'll handle it just fine. But I've SEEN him at a concert where we spent 6 weeks of bombarding him with anything that had been suggested to prepare him. Now we're talking about 6 days or so and I suspect there's going to be no preparation by the school. As soon as he sees the stage and the speakers, the screaming is going to begin. And, as a big kid, they're going to have a serious fight on their hands. I need to figure out how much I need to intervene here.

He needs to learn. And so do I.

No comments:

Post a Comment