yeah, even though i haven't blogged about it, my kids are all back in school. i only got a pic of lily's first day though.
grace started back on august 25th. the magnet school opened up its doors to a lot more kids from the suburbs this year and as a result grace only has two boys from her class last year in her current class. this hasn't phased her at all; the first day, she came home having made new friends and has adjusted well to fourth grade (minus the first week of school where she is always super crabby and tired and i never seem to have enough patience, but we're through that and on a routine again).
lily started preschool one week after labor day (sept. 8th). when we got to her classroom door, she just waved good-bye to me and went right in. she was more than ready for school and has adjusted just fine. she picked out her first day of school outfit at the store; she wanted it to be all yellow which is her favorite color. she continues to pick out her own clothes for school and is queen of layering. her outfits often include pants and a shirt with a dress over it. i did put my foot down one day when she wanted to wear three outfits layered on top of each other (i didn't want the laundry), but in general i give her freedom and she definitely marches (quite insistently) to her own fashion drum.
now to jake's first day. ugh. (for those who know the story, just skip this). jake transitioned from fifth to sixth grade this year. this year also marked the opening of the brand new sixth grade academy in our town (i.e. new not so friendly wheelchair building, completely new staff - his teacher was officially signed the week before school started, etc). jake's aid/para of seven years decided not to continue to middle school with him. i decided to personally bring him to school the first day of school which was august 27th. basically, there was no aid for jake when i arrived and no one knew why there wasn't or who was suppose to be his aid. while the nurse tried to (unsuccessfully) figure out what was going on, i was left in a room by myself with jake for about 40 minutes. while in this room, fear started to overwhelm me. i had recently learned that most of the good paras/aids like to stay in elementary schools and decide not to move on with their child(ren). i started to worry about what caliber of person we would be able to find to work with jake? i worried who would be willing to diaper him as he got big? who would be willing to lift him? this combined with the frustration of being at a school where the teachers and staff did not know who jake was and remembering how utterly overwhelmed jake's teacher looked (trust me, he was that first day), i found myself not able to keep it together and began crying. never a good thing because i usually can't remain composed once the tears start. this was the case and i ended up being sent home with jake hardly able to utter a word as i left the building.
now for the tender mercies. thankfully, my dad was in town that morning on business and had my two youngest kids. i was able to go on a walk with jake when i got home and listened to this talk by president monson where he talked about how important it was to build strong foundations in our homes. then i listened to my brother-in-law's demo tape that he sent us that has a rendition of "how firm a foundation." i was struck by the following words: "...i will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress." when it comes to taking care of jake, i think you start to get to the deepest parts of my heart. i took great comfort that if i trusted in the Lord that he could and would sanctify this distress. i need not be overwhelmed with worry for things i had no control (like who jake's para would be), but rather need to worry about making my foundations strong at home and providing a safe haven for my family. (this is becoming more evident as grace gets older and has to deal with more stress at school). then another tender mercy was a loving note that arrived the next day from a friend who moved away a couple of years ago. the note was just written because she was thinking of me and felt the need to write. this served as a reminder that the Lord was personally aware of me.
now for the sanctification of my deepest distress. the new special ed. director called me back that afternoon and explained to me that the school had hired someone to be with jake, but that the person chose not to continue with the job and didn't bother to notify the school of this decision. since then, we have found a wonderful para for jake. we've also had a huge team meeting and have another one in a couple of weeks. there is still much to be worked out, but i feel that i am on top of things in way i wouldn't have been if the start hadn't been so bad. we are getting there and through all of this i've seen the heart of a lot of the new staff that will be working with jake, and they really do have a lot of heart and love for jake, and so i feel blessed.
p.s. the students on that first day did know jake and lots of them said "hi" to him when we first arrived (melts your heart, right?). last night at the open house, jake's teacher had a bulletin board entitled: "our heroes" and he had put a picture of jake's face on batman and all of the other classmates on other superheroes. he said one of the paras suggested putting their faces on pumpkins, but he was like "no, we'll do something else." i do think it's fun that his teacher is a guy and he really does seem to love working with these kids.
p.p.s. @annie and brian - lily will request to listen to "brian singing" when we're in the car.
