2nd Day of School
I was ok for Maria’s first day of school. I’ve been mentally preparing for it for at least 18 months. But nobody ever said anything about the 2nd day of school. I never thought past the first day. She didn’t drink much milk this morning. She didn’t eat much of her breakfast. When I tried to take her out of her car seat she was grabbing on to the straps for dear life. When I put her in her stroller she curled up in a thumb-sucking ball. Then I handed her over to the aid who let her sit in the hot Phoenix sun for a couple minutes while she checked in a couple other kids. I almost got out of my car to push her over to the shade, when the aid pushed her toward, if not in, the shade. This time I did cry when I drove away.
Sue peeked in the door when she picked Maria up and 3 therapists with clip boards were gathered around her while she was on the floor. I’m sure they were discussing how much time they’d need to allocate to the cutest, sweetest girl in the room.
She said Maria had lots of the gagging/choking seizures this afternoon, she (Maria) gagged herself several times and vomited at least twice, was close fisted, didn’t eat very well, didn’t nap, so Sue just sat and held her all afternoon (and bathed her a couple times) so she wouldn’t gag and vomit anymore.
But there’s more. It gets better. I looked in Maria’s backpack and there was a paper with the preschool weekly lesson plans. Let me share with you some of the things they’re doing in Maria’s class: practice following directions and managing routines. Display independence by walking in line, toileting, and cleaning up. Learn to recognize their symbol in class. Strengthen their large gross motor muscles (yes, it really says that) by riding tricycles, digging in the sand and climbing on the jungle gym. Learn to read names and recognize letters in words. Practice rote counting. Learn the days of the week and months of the year. Develop strategies for seeking solutions to problems. Participate in snack time activities like pouring from a pitcher. Use more complex language patterns in their speech. That’s great, isn’t it? Oh my God.
And tomorrow, we get to do it again!