School

I spent yesterday vigorously cleaning the house and baking Hungarian cheese biscuits and cinnamon roles while Izzy had fun on the beach with her nurse, not so much because I'm a domestic goddess who uses her respite hours for household chores, but because I needed the distraction and the self-soothing comfort of the repetitive motions these activities offer. Izzy is starting school on Monday, which is wonderful and I'm really excited for her between the sudden anxiety attacks that come over me when I think about it. We will ease her into the school routine and start out with short days so for the first couple weeks I will walk her to school and pick her up. The school is at the same location as the facility where she has been receiving physical and occupational therapy since before her first birthday and it is a wonderful place with a wonderful staff. 

Last week we had our first IEP meeting (i.e. individualized educational program, for the uninitiated) to establish the goals and services for the year, and while it was a heavy duty one with 15 attendants, it went very smoothly without any bloodshed. I felt blessed to be able to send Izzy to a school where I can not only trust the expertise of the staff but I can also trust that they want the best for my daughter. Izzy's teacher dropped into the meeting to introduce herself and she was this fairy godmother with a golden aura and an air of mischief about her. You could see twinkles in her eyes and hear her wings softly flap when she talked about her class. So, Monday morning, I will load up Izzy's wheelchair with her new bumblebee-bagpack, portable suction machine, binoculars and camouflage equipment, the latter two are for my hideout in the school parking lot.