Sorry is a feeling.

Erika had a rough morning, like she hasn't had in a while (I won't go into detail, but here is an example of what a rough morning can look like). By the time the bus came, I was holding her hand and escorting her down the driveway, while she tried repeatedly to kick me. The bus driver watched as I expertly dodged those kicks, until finally, Erika pulled away from my grip and ran away in the opposite direction of the bus.

Clearly, this was not going to be a great day. I told the bus driver that I'd be driving her to school this morning. Good call on my part, because the bus driver informed me that she could not allow her onto the bus if she was exhibiting these kinds of behaviors prior to boarding. Fair enough.

The car ride to school
I have no idea why things are so rough on the bus right now. It's tempting to drive her to school for the rest of the school year, although I currently have a 9 a.m. class twice a week, so that's not really an option until my semester's over. Let's face it, any parent knows that by her not getting on the bus and me driving her to school, it is possible that I am rewarding (and even encouraging) the unwanted behavior. But I can't really look at it like that right now…her behavior prevented them from transporting her today, so I had no choice in it this time.

Erika had no problem getting in the car to go to school. She was neither defiant nor aggressive. She was very matter-of-fact about it. Once it had been decided that the bus was not an option for today, I also took it all in stride. She had tried to kick me and hit me while waiting for the bus, but now all was calm, and I was more than ready to embrace that.

Social Stories: From Clunky to Slick and Accessible

I was playing around with the Erika's World website from my iPad, and I decided to check out the pdf documents containing the lyrics to some of Erika's favorite songs (strategies that work). When I opened the document on the iPad, I noticed an option that appeared on the top-right of the screen: "Open in iBooks." What happened next literally made my day. The pdf document appeared on a bookshelf, in a library separate from the iBooks that I had purchased. This is my very own library of pdf documents!

In Erika's mom's world, the significance of this cannot be overstated. I realize that at Erika's school, there is no wifi access, so this concept of accessing these pdf documents from the classroom at a moment's notice from Erika's iPad is truly a novel idea. I immediately opened all of the lyrics, and they are now in a library on my iPad. When Erika arrives at school today, I hope the teachers take a look at her iBooks app (per my note), where they will find the lyrics to "I'll Show You The World." Erika and I sang this together this morning, as we viewed the lyrics in iBooks.