Tobin in high school

Through a quirk in our schedules today, T came to my school for a visit at the end of the day. Allison thought she would be in Raleigh late tonight (which didn't happen in the end anyway), so she dropped him off during the last few minutes of my last class, a nice group of AP Language and Composition kids.

I was a little worried about him because his separation anxiety has been pretty high lately. I have a sofa in my classroom, so I took him there while my students were finishing peer-editing some essays. I had a pop-up book for him and he just read on the couch for a minute. He didn't react at all to his mom leaving, which is remarkable for the stage he's in right now. At the end of class he was clingy, but he never cried. After the students left, he finally got comfortable enough to walk around school with me. He walked to the front office, then walked around on the practice soccer field, then walked on the grass of the baseball infield. I was a lot more popular than usual in the halls with him on my hip or walking next to me. He still likes to hold onto my hand, but he's gotten much more confident walking.

As much fun as we had, the real treat was that Mom got to come home at her normal time. Since we were expecting her to be late (maybe even post-Tobin-bedtime-late), it felt like a holiday when she called to say she was coming home.

I didn't have a camera at school to take a picture in my classroom, but I can give you a sense of environment. The first picture is one that was taken last week in my classroom for the school system's website, the second is T helping me grade some quizzes on Sunday. Merge the two in your mind and you'll have a good idea of the scene. Mondays at work don't get much better.