School

I began this post two days ago. Shows how much time I have to sit alone and type!

Stuff's been happening but there's really nothing to write about. It warmed up to 30 degrees today and I felt awesome walking around without a coat, tramping through the snow in my boots. (Although the coat thing isn't new. I don't like wearing one.)

Wednesday I was Selfish Mommy and went to the gym. A friend and I swap baby sitting and Wends are her day to take George. I missed Cole's Valentine's Day party. I normally go up and take George. I suppose I could have worked out at home, and then gone to his party alone. But I didn't. I went to the gym and took a shower after. I patted myself on the back for taking care of ME, something I hardly ever do.

Then when I picked up Cole, I saw I was the only mother who didn't come up. No, really. The only other mothers who were not there were the ones who worked. Sigh.Talk about guilt!

I paid for Selfish Mommy too. The house was a disaster and Cole was flying high from the sugar. He also hasn't been sleeping and was super whiney. He was laying his head down and crying. I couldn't put him down for a nap, though, since Joe had an appointment. Cole fell asleep on the way to school and until we reached the doctor's. Of course he wanted to be carried and I had to lug him up a flight of stairs, questioning why I bothered to go to the gym!

Part of our problem today was that Cole was asking for something and I had no idea what it was! At our conference today, the SLP said kids with Apraxia often loose intelligibility as they gain speech.He is certainly doing that. Since he might not qualify for speech this summer, I will need to get him into private speech. Sigh.

Anyway, back to school. Cole whined "me go home" the entire hour and 15 minutes we were up there! Considering the whine-fest began at one, the whole "me go home" whine lasted for two frikkin hours. I mean, really? Sigh.

On Thursday I was supposed to go up to school for a kindergarten parent meeting. It was at nine am on a day off from school. What are we supposed to do with our kids? And Cole had a nasty cough, so I didn't want to bring him up anyway. It was frustrating but, thankfully, the staff knows me and I just went up, handed in my paperwork and picked up what I needed. The good news is that since he attends this school for preschool, most of his paperwork is already on file! I need to update any vaccinations he has received but, other than that, I think he's good to go!

We have the option for full or half day in the district. However, our state does not pay for full day and thus the parents must make up the difference at $15/day. For people that need day care (SCHOOL IS NOT DAY CARE) this is a bargain. For those of us who pay out the nose for therapies every week, this is an added expense we can not have. George will be going to half day and I am okay with this, since I know and like the half day teacher. I actually know and like the full day teacher too and she was excited, asking me if George will be in her class. That made my heart melt. I'm so, so pleased with the teachers at our school. They really do an awesome job with all my kids.

(I suspect they want George in their classes because they have not seen the super anal worried side of me that comes with George. He's leaving the nice secure special education classroom and going in with the wolves, who may or may not understand him.I have a few more months to prep the half day teacher. Heh. I did tell the principal that if this teacher is not teaching kindy next year, I will cry big ugly tears, have a fit and picket the school. The principal laughed, like I was kidding.)

Camille's teacher had nothing but glowing things to report. She's getting A's in math and her concentration has greatly improved! I think she's gaining a little weight back too, which is nice. The best part is that she is learning skills that are carrying over to when she is NOT on medication. That's great!

Joe had five people at his conference and we joked he was quite the popular young man, to have all those lovely women talking about him. He blushed! He has several student teachers, which is why so many people were there. He too is doing well and is undergoing testing for the gifted program. I'm twitching at the thought of all four kids on IEPs. I didn't want my children to have special needs, gifted or otherwise. I wanted boring, normal children who when you walk into conferences, the teacher says, "Your child is a delight to have in the classroom! Their grades are great, they are polite, well mannered and have friends. Send me 20 more like them!" I'm not looking to raise a genius child or four (trust me, no. It's a whole 'nuther post). I just want neuro typical!

But what are ya going to do aside from advocate for them, help them figure out the world and feed 'em fish oil to promote brain development?

Okay, complaining aside, the tone of the conferences was positive overall and we are all moving in the right direction for the kids. I am thankful every day we landed in this neighborhood with this school that is fully equipped to meet the needs of my kids and is devoted to doing so. When I read stories about other districts, even ones close to our home, where the teachers do no follow IEPs, do not use best practices, aren't flexible and so on, I am so glad we have this school. Even with all the worrying I do about the children and their future, I can happily send them off to school each day knowing they are well cared for and loved.