Smorgasbord

• I miss writing.  I've stumbled on seven or eight articles and posts lately on the joys of writing, how to write, how not to write, how to avoid writing… I think the universe is sending me a message.  It's nice that the message isn't catastrophe and mayhem for once.  

• The last few weekends have been chock full of various fun outings - cousin's birthdays, playgroups, & boy scouts.  Makes me feel like we're doing more than just dragging the kids along behind as we lurch from disaster to disaster.  There's a slim chance I might be exaggerating the level of chaos around here but it seemed rather grim there for a bit.

• The polar vortex finally broke, mere seconds before it broke us, and we went outside.  The fresh air and seeing the kids enjoy the fresh air was downright life affirming, even if the pictures are blurry.  

• I have amended my position on the boy scouts:  I resisted for years because I considered them a homophobic para-military organization, recruiting hordes of child soldiers minions with outdoor survival skills, but The Boy's BFF is involved and BFF's mom is a den mother and we need more low cost activities so I caved.  En route to our first event I gave The Boy the same speech I've given him about the Church which runs the school he attends, the gist of which is that they do some good stuff but they are wrong, really really wrong, about others, and every person should be able to marry anyone they want.  And it's not about religion but fear of the unknown and of difference.  I've been watching closely but there have been no overt attempts at brain washing and meanwhile we've built catapults, Pine Wood Derby cars, seen science demonstrations, and the boy is going bowling today.  (Maybe this is how the lure you in & the propaganda starts next year?)

• The girl deleted Proloquo2go off her iPad at school.  The teacher was very apologetic but NBD, I had backed up the extensive modifications we'd made, right?  BWAHAhahaha… whimper.  I'd thought about it.  In that way that I think we'll eventually get around to refinishing the wood floors, but Apple has not yet figured out how to read intent so I'm going to spend my afternoon reprogramming the damn thing.  And backing up. 

• This is old news but have you seen this Micos***t commercial from the Superbowl?  This deserves a separate post but I am very, very slowly coming to terms with the fact that my little girl is not going to be a talker.  As in not talk.  That Proloquo exists to be deleted off her easily-carried iPad, that it may allow her to move thru the world even without verbal skills, floors me.  I don't give a flying fuck if it's inspiration porn or an overtly cheesy attempt to shill for some corporate behemoth, I get teary. Every time.  Same way I get teary when I think about the millimeter sized piece of GoreTex they used to fix my girl's heart.  Some things are just GOOD, y'know? 

31 for 21: 1 down, 52ish more to go (Mo'School)

I just added up all the IEP and parent-teacher conferences in our future between both kids, assuming we never get around to adopting and the kids don't venture too far off the rails:  52.

Kids, man, they're such a time suck. 
I jest!

If you want the background on the To Kindy or Not To Kindy decision, it's here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~    

I went to The Girl's first official kindy parent-teacher conference Thursday night.  There was no drama, no conflict, no good narrative tension… not that I'm complaining, but it makes for rough writing.

The SpEd/SLP were running a few minutes late and her 'formal' teacher seemed a little lost at first, but soon warmed up and had nothing but good things to say.  The Girl is (mostly) sitting nicely during circle time, there are a couple kids in the class who ask about her and want to sit by her (my heart!), and she looked shocked when I asked if my sweet little angel* was walloping people, as she'd done last year.
*sarcasm

[Not a critical factor but I was also happy to hear she isn't intentionally dumping her food/drink at lunch - something she delights in a home.  *phew*  Also?  THAT is why peer modeling works, my friends.]

We only had 20 minutes with the primary so the SpEd, SLP & I soon moved into the teacher's lounge where we went over her IEP goals (she has a re-evaluation coming up) and just chatted about how kindy is going.  She's picked up the classroom routines easily, they confirmed she knows all her letters, upper & lower case, and they were delighted to find that she loves-loves-loves to read, doing my bookish heart proud.  She's busy exploring her AAC and even answering questions on it (!).   She is, however, exhausted by the end of the day, and especially by the end of the week - but they they anticipated this going in so no surprise. [And, really, who isn't done by Friday?]

They seemed appropriately uninterested in the IEP numbers and percentages, stressing again that this year is about communication.  They talked about how the para hangs back during activities so she isn't being smothered or singled out (!).   They love her social stories & have shared them with the class.  And not only did they agree to a communication book (the emails have been a wee bit thin lately), they're going to put it into Proloquo2go so that my daughter can tell me about her day.  That is brilliant.

They told a couple funny stories about her - which completely escape me now - but concluded by commenting on what a bright child she was.

Oh, you guys.  This is the dream.

Yes, I am a sucker for compliments about my children but it wasn't just that - they recognized her strengths, they intuitively understood things other parents have had to battle over, and they were completely invested in their role in my daughter's success.  They just oozed a lovely, quiet competence.

I read somewhere that older SpEd teachers are the worst at pushing inclusion because they tend to be territorial of "their kids".  That doesn't to be the case here but she IS spending most of her day in SpEd, by design.  I know anything could happen over the next few years - we could end up battling over the amount of time in gen ed when we re-do "traditional" kindy next year, we could argue over the number & timing of push ins vs pull outs.  We could lose the pro-inclusion principal.  The SpEd teacher from heaven could quit or move.  I could get hit by a semi.  The Girl could…. well, anything could happen.  But what a gift this year is.

P.S.  Also, only a few kindy art projects seem to have received excessive assistance.  I think she did the eyes on this guy - at least she recognized it and grabbed it from my hand - That's MY spider, mom!

31 for 21: 10 Loaves, 1 Moose, No fish.

This isn't part two yet - this is a cheater because it's already 10:30 and I've been trying to catch up with YOUR posts.  What I wouldn't do to not need sleep!

I've been doing short little social stories for The Girl at school, both so she can show off the signs she knows & - maybe, hopefully, ideally - some of the kids can get used to the AAC concept.  This weekend was... Well, I'll get there tomorrow.  But she helped me make bread so we worked in help, mommy, cook, bread, want, dog, Moose (the photo bombing dog), eggs (she wanted to tweak the recipe), & a few others.  

Almost as important as fostering my child's vocabulary, communication, and social skills, is the fact that after creating 10 or so lovely decorative stones, I FINALLY made some awesome sourdough bread.  Watch out Boudin!