Ah, it's good to be back in the routine - a chance to reset

Hello, September. I’m very glad to see you roll around.

I’m a creature of habit and routine, which makes September one of my favourite months of the year. It is a chance to reset.

It is a chance to start again, but also a month where everyone cuts each other a bit of slack because we acknowledge for ourselves and for each other that we are all starting again in some way or another. We get to ease in and welcome autumn.

Ricky, our little boy, doesn’t feel so little anymore, he has explored and grown over the summer and enjoyed himself thoroughly.

He has started senior Infants, which is a big deal but not a huge deal. He took it all in his stride. We were able to just buy the next size up in everything and get the same shoes that worked well last year.

He has a new schoolbag with bigger pockets, but the same lunchbox and water bottle as before. His old bag had a tear in it so a new one was essential but anything we could keep and reuse, we did. He is a devil for breaking his twistable crayons, the ones they insist on in school so I got a wagonload of them, most of which will stay in the drawer at home where all the spare things belong until he needs them.

I feel more relaxed about school this year because now Ricky knows the run of things himself and he can tell me what he needs. I’m delighted that he can get himself ready in the morning and we can keep each other on track. All the little developments in him make me smile. We are definitely less chaotic than this time last year.

The latest addition to our routine is that Ricky will come home on the school bus with his friends. Going on the bus in the morning doesn’t make that much sense because it leaves super-early and the drop-off point is further distance than the school. It will be a great option if I have an appointment or something. Going home on the bus after homework club will give Ricky time with friends and he can get off safely at our neighbours’ house, which will save me the mayhem of the school car park when everyone is trying to collect their children at the same moment.

Each new school year is a new start and we can change things and refine our routine. Ricky wanted to do homework club, which is an hour from 2pm to 3pm, for four days instead of the three days we did last year, and when he’s there he’ll come home on the bus. He was so excited going off with his ticket and I marvelled at his thirst for independence.

I like to take things slow and steady and build new things up incrementally. Ricky, on the other hand, likes to jump in with both feet and figure things out in real time.

The barriers I have experienced due to having a disability have made me a little more wary and cautious.

When I was 13, I took the bus to town with my friends for the first time. On the way home a driver refused me admission because I was in my wheelchair and it took hours to get home. That was years ago and things have changed but that feeling of fear, rejection and feeling like a nuisance has stayed with me.

I’m glad Ricky can attack new things barrier free and with a confidence I adore. It’s the least he deserves.