Goodbye February

Yesterday is what I assume was the last hurrah for winter. An accumulation of about 7 inches of snow. Maybe the last snow day the kids will have until next year. We only had two good snows this winter (the first was ruined by the inch or so of ice that topped it late on the very same day). I love a good snow and how it makes everything beautiful. I also love the excitement that the kids exhibit about wanting to get out and play in it... or at least most kids. Getting Lucas to get out and have fun in the snow is one of the hardest chores I've experienced yet. He will suit up in coat, hat, gloves and boots reluctantly and then it's pushing him out the door. Then he will wander around in the snow head lowered like he is being punished. Meanwhile, Clara just can't wait to get outside to dig holes and scatter and throw the snow around. She did enjoy making snowballs and throwing them at Lucas... which was rather funny, even if it wasn't necessarily nice. Neither one was interested in building a snowman with me... maybe if the daddy had been there with his enthusiasm, it might have rubbed off a little.

The past week was headache inducing. Clara and Eli were both sick with Lucas contributing his cough to the chorus. There was an incident at Lucas' preschool and a re-evaluation meeting at Clara's school. These both will be detailed a bit more in a minute. First I just want to take a breath and start by saying that Jason started his new job yesterday. Yay, Jason! Of course, I didn't take that into consideration when I made Clara's opthamologist appointment... with the change of insurance coverage, I rescheduled for March 18.

At preschool on Wednesday morning... Lucas bit another little boy! When I was asked to come in and talk to the teacher, those words coming out of her mouth couldn't possibly be referring to my sweet boy! No... I must have misunderstood! Alas, it was my boy and she did have to repeat herself before I was able to respond. Though the situation has been taken care of, I still wonder if it's only a matter of time before it happens again. I am fully aware that my sweet boy can be a bit of a sour preschooler at times. He has a history of biting Clara, but the thing is... it's always been confined to our tiny bubble. So the idea of him using that as a defense mechanism at school really upsets me. Other parents have weighed in with "at least you know he can defend himself", but is that really the desired lesson to come out of this?

Thursday was the meeting to discuss whether or not Clara is in need of re-evaluation, and the results of which will determine if she continues to be eligible for special education services. All kids receiving services must go through this process at the end of kindergarten... since she skipped kindergarten, they are playing catch-up trying to get her back on track. Although I was hoping we were done with this, the things I was hearing from the panel at this meeting made it abundantly clear that we are far from that. I sat amid a panel consisting of Clara's 1st grade teacher, Clara's special education teacher, a physical therapist, a speech/language specialist, the school principal, a behavioral psychologist, and a sociocultural psychologist; each of these people telling me why my daughter needs to be re-evaluated. What is interesting to me is the fact that these "issues" are just coming to light for them now, whereas I've been dealing with them for years; I've even brought it up to her special education teacher in the past. I guess if it's not a documented issue, then the special education teachers don't need to help with it. I was discussing this meeting with a friend recently, and aside from the humorous take that these county employees are using this as a means to keep their jobs secure, the idea of Asperger syndrome was mentioned. I don't like the idea of that, but in some ways it would be nice to know the reason/cause behind much of her behavior. I guess I have a bit of research to do.

I talked to an old friend the other day (first time in almost a year) only to find out that she is going through some really horrible personal drama, part of which involves separating from her husband of 10 years. It goes without saying that my thoughts are with her now, but what I keep focusing on is that all this has been going on for months and I had no idea... and I consider her to be one of my dearest friends. I really hate how communication diminishes so intensely simply due to geography... that out of sight out of mind philosophy. I know that I'm at fault for this... as much as any person. Life takes it's journey and we get involved in our own little worlds, but the people that helped make us who we are along the way shouldn't be forgotten just because they didn't move with us. FaceBook has been really helpful to correct some of these lost communications, but there needs to be more... more phone calls, more emails, more contact!