Second Grade- Another Year of Fire Drills

I took Bryce to school this morning for his first day of second grade.  He has been putting this day off in his mind all summer.  He usually likes school and is always excited when holiday breaks are over, but this time he was not so sure about it.  He kept insisting that school was next Tuesday the 21st (every week he would say the same thing all summer) even when I showed him on the calendar that today was Tuesday the 21st.  He didn't talk about it directly most of the time, but I know he was just dreading the start of another school year because it means the fire drills will start again.  Last year on the last day of school, he said, "No more fire drills!  Number nine was the last one!"  That's right, he kept track in his head all year long.  And so the beginning of a new year means that he has to start all over again.  Poor kid- he really hates those things.  They are so loud, and anyone with an autistic child knows that extremely loud noises like that are just a sensory overload for them.  Add to that the flashing strobe lights and the fact that they leave the alarm blaring the entire time the kids are making their way to the staging areas, and it's a recipe for disaster.  For Bryce, the anticipation is worse than the event.  His therapist always tells him before they have a drill so he can be prepared.  He also has ear plugs that he can put in to help dampen the noise.  Mrs. Linda told him that she had it on good authority that they would not have a fire drill today, so he needed to stop thinking about it and just get ready for a great first day of school. (This was on the phone this morning before we went to school- isn't she great?!?)  When I left him at his desk, he was still a little weepy eyed as he told Mrs. Linda he didn't want to have a fire drill and she reiterated that they would not.  I can't wait to pick him up this afternoon to see how the rest of his day went.  Bless Mrs. Linda- I don't think I could have left him there if he'd have been alone!  If you think of it today, please pray for my little sweetie!