Dammit, Jean.

Tough day today.

My absolute favorite kid in our EIC program graduated. This little dude (I’m not comfortable posting names or pictures online, but ask me about him IRL and I’ll show you just the cutest little face you’ve ever seen) started our classes maybe two weeks after I started working there. He was a really tough case - anxious and distressed almost all the time. 

I was there with him for almost every single class he was in, and once he got approved for home visits, I was given his case almost exclusively.

And this guy seriously blossomed. Once he learned how to calm himself down and work through the scary stuff, this gigantic personality burst out. He has an unreal amount of language at his disposal. He’s a mockingbird - he copied so many little phrases I say (like, “Oh my goodness!” and, “Good work, buddy!”) and he memorized pretty much every song I ever sang to him. And he’s got a RIDICULOUS sense of humor. He was always hard for me to discipline because he got me to laugh so easily.

I love him so much, and he loves me to the point where if his mom told him at bedtime that I was coming over for a session the next morning, he’d get too excited to sleep.

We’ve spent the last seven months together and I’m proud of him to bursting, but it’s bittersweet. I obviously want him to integrate into preschool and, heck, I’m done with my job in a week, but it was painful to say goodbye today.