When Jackson first started preschool he was still
having those awful seizures. Getting him
to retain anything was nearly impossible.
Now those seizures are controlled and the kid is doing stuff at school
that amazes me. He has been raising his
hand during circle time to pick songs.
He roams the hallways in his walker and bicycle admiring the art on the
walls from the elementary school students.
He knows he can’t outlast his teachers and will do the work he needs to
do. He’s figured out how to rock his
chair forward and tries to race the other kids in their chairs. He is the class clown, according to his
teacher, and is always making the other kids laugh. If he was neurotypical I would discourage
that behavior, but he really is funny and making others laugh is a good talent
to have so I say “spread the laughs Jacks.”
He is always so excited to go to school and to spend time with the other
kids and his wonderful teacher and aides.
I am so proud of how far Jackson has come. He has
made tremendous progress.
Jackson will be going to a different school next year
for Kindergarten. He will be in a
Designed Instruction class. They don’t
have that program at his current school.
It is going to be hard to leave, his Principal has been wonderful in
working with us on things we need and supporting the special education
preschool. Together he and I worked to
get a handicapped front door installed.
We also tried getting parents to stop using the handicapped parking
spots to drop off their neurotypical children (I say tried because there are
still some very insensitive and ignorant parents who think it is okay to do
this). His teacher Liz has gone above
and beyond to make sure Jackson is doing what he should be doing while
developing independence. We have been so
lucky to have such a great support system at school. I am so grateful for the last 3 years at
Roosevelt Elementary.
I’m nervous and excited to start this next chapter in
Jackson’s life. Last week we went up to
his new school for a move up meeting with the teachers and therapists and then
came back on another day to tour the classroom.
It went well. I think Jackson is
going to do great in this school and classroom.
It’s going to be a challenge and won’t be as easy as preschool has
been. It will push him on a lot of
levels and I think it will be good for him and for me. I’ve babied him a lot and done a lot for him
when he should be doing it. It’s time
for him to start learning how to do things for himself. I know there is going to be a period of
adjustment and I can already sense the protests he will be putting forth. But onward and forward he must go.
For me the realization that I am now going to have
whole days to myself is a bit overwhelming.
Over the past couple of years so much has come into my life as far as
advocacy work and community projects.
There is an abundance of things I want to do. It will be a new chapter in my life. One that I am anxious for. I can’t believe how lucky I have been these
last 6 years being able to be a stay at home mom and being there for the kids
whenever they need me. I’ve truly
enjoyed it and am forever grateful to Kevin for working so hard so that I can
stay home. But now I am ready to do
something different, to give back to our community and to help other
parents. Onward and forward I will go.
As
Kurt Vonnegut said “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing
our wings on the way down.”
