Laptopless

Wow! That was an incredibly long week and a half! I tried to convince myself, over the course of the last few days, a laptop is not necessary for entertainment and survival. I was incorrect! My laptop was in for repair, and my two backups were down. I tried to reason with myself, people in the world have actual needs, and a laptop is not a need. After several days of this mental dialog, I was going stir crazy. So bad was my need to get on the laptop, I figured out how to connect to the internet on the Wii. Desparation? Maybe. I think I could have described this experience as catastrophic over Easter. I so wanted to post the adorable photos of the kids. I think it finally broke me, I realized the crisis was going to end and cracked out cleaning another kitchen cupboard.

So, what's up? I registered Sidney in the summer 3 year old preschool summer program. My largest concern? Her ability to physically get on the toilet. Her teacher said they can give her a boost. Potty training is hit and miss at home. Little Miss uses the potty like a perfect angel during "playtime" (drop off daycare). 

This four week program gives her the opportunity to give preschool a test run. She will go to Eli's school. It is a small private school. This pleases me for multiple reasons. Our largest reason is they will do or not do exactly what we want. We do not want Sidney's educational experience to revolve around special plans. Instead, I took the opportunity to write a letter to the school. After giving a brief explanation of her medical condition, I wrote the following:

So what does this mean to all of you as her educators? She is a healthy girl in every way, except she has a couple of unique anomalies. We ask that you treat Sidney as every other student in *****, meaning she is expected to do any and all of the same activities as the other kids in the school. We expect her to be held to the same educational and behavioral standards. We are aware there are a variety of special plans for children with her issues; however we do not want her classified as disabled. If there are areas she struggles or might hurt herself, we expect ***** to use a common sense approach. Together, if necessary, we can make an appropriate decision.  Last, we do not want anyone to pity Sidney for her condition. She is an outgoing and happy little girl.  Right now she doesn’t know there is a difference, however we know school will probably be a defining moment in this respect.

We understand other children are going to be justifiably curious. Her anomalies might go unnoticed for a while, but it is guaranteed to come up. Prepare yourself now. If a teacher explains to a child that God made her this way, and she can do anything anyone else can do, it is not a big deal. We understand there are kids who repetitively feel the need to grab her hands and examine them. We know you will put a stop to this.  Ultimately, we are saying, use your best judgment in these situations. Please feel free to talk openly about it if it comes up in class.  Many of these children will be in her class for many years to come, as we plan on keeping Sidney in ********* until she graduates from 8^th grade. We want them to forget this is a part of her makeup and know her very big personality.

I thought this pretty much summed things up. OK, back to catching up on blogs.