We Survived

September 02, 2008

We Survived

Today was Waverly's first day of school. Matt was able to go with us for her first day. The "hand off" with her teacher was extremely chaotic. I think they need more hands to help with 8 special needs children. But, when I picked her up she was smiling and seems to have had a really fun day. I don't know any specifics, because there isn't time to talk with her teacher. She had fun and looked adorable with her new pink backpack & lunch box.

This weekend was fun. A 3 day weekend is always good - it is nice to have Matt around for an extra day. We were able to go to a park that was designed for kids with special needs. A friend and her family met us there for play time and a picnic. We also went to a BBQ at one of Matt's law school friend's home. It was nice to reconnect with old friends...even though Waverly had 2 HUGE bloody noses that dominated our evening. All in all it was a fun weekend.

We have decided to take a weekend and head to the beach. The kids will love it and Matt & I can relax on the sand. Our 10th anniversary is on Friday, so this will be a little gift to ourselves. I hope all of the hurricanes stay away!

Comments

Christine said…

My six-year-old son gets huge bloody noses too. Sometimes, the length of time it can take to stop the bleeding can be alarming. I have to try really hard to hide my concern.

So glad you have friends there to reconnect with. Enjoy the beach! And Happy Anniversary!

September 2, 2008 at 6:45 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.