Hawaii Academy

Sam started a new "Pre School Movement" class at a local gym, Hawaii Academy, today. He absolutely LOVED it!

He was so excited when I first told him that he was gonna start going to a class of his own and have a teacher just like Hannah's. This morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was talking about his class and how he had to get ready like Hannah does. He said he was a big boy and that he was planning to listen to the teacher and do his very best.

When we got there Sam kept asking me, "When is my class gonna start?" I told him, "As soon as the other class finishes." All of a sudden, the class before his was wrapping up and Sam started to cry. I guess he got nervous... I'm not really sure because he didn't want to talk about it. He just said he was ready to go home. Luckily, Scott was with us because he didn't have to work today (he has to work this weekend) so he told Sam that he would go with him to his class. He walked over with him and Sam sat on his lap and stopped crying. The coach introduced himself and the other little children (there were only 2 other "classmates") and they got started on their activities. The first one was to run around some obstacles and sit back in a circle. Sam did it but promptly sat back down with Scott and started crying again. I wanted to just go scoop him out of class but I knew that it would be something he'd enjoy if he just gave it a shot.

Anyway, the next activity was jumping on their trampolines. Each child jumped on his/her own trampoline and Sam totally let loose. He started acting like his normal crazy self. Scott was able to sneak away and eventually sit next to me off of the mats. Sam was having so much fun after that. He participated in everything for the rest of the class (about another 45 minutes). They swung on a rope, hung from a balance beam like little monkeys, climbed ladders, crawled through tunnels, ran around the gym, and did other kinds of energy packed fun. He was so red and sweaty at the end of the class and the first thing he said to me was, "I love my new class!" He gave the coach a big high 5 and said he couldn't wait to go back.

He's gonna be going once a week, for now, every Thursday morning. We may add another class later but I want him to take swimming, too, and that starts next month. We'll see how the scheduling works out. Plus, I don't want to pile too much on him and traumatize him. This is the first time (besides church) that he's done something without us and I want him to have good experiences.

Would you believe I forgot my camera? I'm totally slipping! Maybe I should get a bigger purse so I can just carry it with me at all times. I PROMISE I'll take it with us to his class next week. He looked so cute running around with this enormous smile on his glistening little face!

Aloha!