Transitions, coughs, sneezes and fevers!

It's that time of year.  Time to decide what children will be having extended year services (services during the summer), transitioning students from preschool to kindergarten and in our case, the time of runny noses, coughing attacks and fevers.  The kids in my room are dropping like flies with the flu.  Unfortunately, they are contagious before they have the fever and are usually at school then, so we are all exposed to the flu.

I am not sure if some parents realize that there may be children in the classroom who can't afford to get illnesses like the flu :(.  Also, I wonder if they think about the quality of teaching their children will be receiving if some or all of the staff are sick at home!  Coming to school with a cold is understandable.  After all, a cold can last from 10 days to 2 weeks.  But viruses like the flu are different.  And then you need to consider the fact that a child with an illness is more susceptible to any other germs or viruses which may be lurking at school.  At the end of this school week, we only had 3 of our 7 students present.

My grandson, Jack, had the flu too :(.  That's to be expected when you start going to school (preschool) for the first time.  Better that than getting every illness in kindergarten!  Luckily little Max is entirely breast fed still and managed to miss the more serious symptoms.  He just keeps getting cuter and fatter :).

One month later....

    I am so not good at keeping up with a blog :(.  I think it's been the combination of illness  (trigeminal neuralgia and colds) and changes in my class.  I know you can't keep a child home just because they have a cold, but unfortunately that means we end up having to get subs for our sick staff and that always disturbs the flow of the class.
     Luckily today we have a day off, icing on the roads, so I have some more time to recover from this nasty cold, but unfortunately one of my wonderful paraprofessionals will be out sick tomorrow with a 2 day fever not related to the flu :(.
     Enough kvetching :) being home means I get to spend some time online shopping for my two wonderful grandchildren.  There is nothing much better than buying little boy and baby clothes.  Our youngest grandchild, Max is growing so fast it's not funny.  At 2 months of age he weighs 13lbs. 8 ounces!  Which means he is now into 6 month clothes :).  He is completely breast fed and sleeps like a champ unlike his brother who still fights to stay up at night and gets up early in the morning.  I always find it amazing that siblings are so different, right from the start of their lives.
                   

Smiling Max

And look at poor Jack! :(  This is what being a daredevil on the couch does, a major meeting between face and coffee table.  Poor buddy :(
                                               

Long time no see.... again :(

I need to begin with an apology.  If anyone, besides some members of my family are reading this blog, it's been a long time coming.  A couple of reasons why, some ups and downs in the classroom, which have made me stressed and sometimes unhappy.  I have never been good at change, even when it is a good change.  I just don't have a good history with change.  Another reason is my now 2 month bout with trigeminal neuralgia.  I have had it travel from one side of my face to the other and it has made my mouth and teeth so sore that it was hard to enjoy all the wonderful Christmas treats my daughter helped me make this year.  I have just been too depressed to write I think.

On the other hand, though, we did have a great Christmas.  Both my daughters, their husbands and my two beautiful grandsons were here on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with us.  My wonderful husband made eggplant lasagna for the vegetarians in the house and a glazed spiral cut ham for us meat eaters :).  He also made potatoes and parsnips and corn.  He tried to make a loaf of home made bread in the bread machine, but it didn't rise, so I tried to whip up some biscuits that never rose or browned because they were baked in the oven, under the lasagna :).  We all laughed about it, though, and my son-in-law even used them as a conveyance to eat the delicious preserves given to me by my wonderful Paraprofessional :) .  Isn't that part of the fun of Christmas?

So, I guess I am in a better mood now, the pain has abated, thanks to a timely call back from my neurologist's P.A.(gotta love that) who put me on some good medication and a lovely Christmas with my family which includes some snow and a nice long break with my wonderful husband.  Poor guy is suffering with a cold along with my daughter and her two sons.  I blame it on going to the pre-school Christmas program, which we of course would not miss for the world.  I am hoping I have been around enough school children to miss it altogether :)

Some pictures: :)

Thanksgiving Joy :)

Well, we missed our Thanksgiving dinner at our house, but it happened to be for a very good reason!  We sat at the hospital all day waiting the arrival of our new grandson.  Early in the evening he arrived, Maxwell Edward Utley weighing in at a grand total of 9lbs. 12 oz. and measuring at 22 inches!  As one of my friends said "he is as big as our turkey!"

Late that night we took a tired little Jack home with us after having a late dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (thank you Ruby Tuesday for being open and for that nice young waitress, who waited on our table until at least 9:00 and was unfailingly sweet to us) By the way this was at the Ruby Tuesday's nearest the Inova Birthing Inn :).

The next day we took Jack to Monkey Joe's, in Winchester VA, where he received a free Icee from the Manager for "being a new big brother" and we stopped at Martins to make a bouquet of flowers from Jack to his Momma.  We had to get pink and purple as Jack requested, instead of the standard blue for a boy, because Jack knows his Mommy's favorite colors :)

Of course all weekend I bragged on my new grandson and my wonderful daughter and of course I heard the standard "well as long as he is healthy, that's all that matters" at least 2 or 3 times.  After the third time, I really thought about it.  What if he wasn't healthy?  What if he had Down Syndrome or a congenital malformation or a heart problem?  Would I be just as happy?  Would I still be bragging and/or would I share that with strangers?  I know I wouldn't love him any less, if he was ill, of course I would be worried and if he had a chromosomal difference such as Down Syndrome I would be a little sad only because I know it's a harder row to hoe for his family. With greater difference comes more adjustment.

I am pretty sure I would share this information with strangers if only because as I have gotten older, I have become more outspoken.  And because I know, like many others don't, the joy of being with children who seem different to others. 

Of course this is not the story with Max, so I didn't have to think about it at the time I was sharing my news.  Maybe next time though, I will say something like, "The most important thing isn't that he is healthy, it's that he is here and we have one more person to love in this family."

 

 

Just want to share :)

Please watch this Ted presentation by the photographer Rick Guidotti.  He has done some amazing work with kids with differences and his enthusiasm and love of what he is creating is palpable.  It's about 18 minutes, but you'll be happy you took the time :)

A Tirade, well kind of

As most of you know, I am a special education teacher.  When I was younger and in a 2 year college, I was studying to be an elementary school teacher.  Why?  Because everyone told me I was good with children, so it was easy.  Then I took a couple of psychology classes including on one on abnormal psychology.  I found it very interesting and still it was easy.  So then I went on to a 4 year college and majored in elementary school and special education.  It was interesting and easy.  Then I took a class on finding employment for adults with moderate to severe disabilities.  At the same time, I was working for United Cerebral Palsy as a teacher for adults who had been institutionalized all of their lives and were getting ready to be sent into the community.  I enjoyed this, enjoyed my students and knew I could do this.

Many years later now, I have been teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities, mostly multiple disabilities for something like 18 years now.  I like it but here comes the reason for the "tirade".  I can't tell you how many times I have been told, "You must have so much patience" or "I could never do what you do".  No, I don't have patience and if you mean the times I get peed on, pooped on or thrown up on, no one really wants that to happen, it just does.  These comments are often made by other teachers or substitute teachers.  Just tell the truth, you don't want to teach these students and you aren't going to if you have anything to say about it.

So don't.

I have news for you though.  You may be cutting off your nose to spite your face.  You will be missing out on the hard work, but that hard work makes very real changes in the lives of your students.  You will be missing out on the mess, but that mess can be what it takes to teach your student real life skills that may be the difference between a life of choice and one of submission.
You definitely miss out on the chance to work with families who know how to appreciate you for what you do.  And you learn, learn, learn every day in more ways than you can possibly want to :).

I am the lucky one.  Yay for me!

Hard Times/Good Times

Well, we're getting into the second half of the first quarter of school.  I love my work, but it is hard work.  I have some new students with new challenges.  Something nice though, is that the students I have had for a while now (for some it's their third year with me) are really showing growth and maturity.  Children who didn't know how to play with a toy are playing with toys, children who didn't know how to stay in a seat, are staying seated.  Some can eat their food with a fork and spoon independently.  Some can wash their hands, some are beginning to talk.  The steps were small at first but over the longer time period, they have become mighty!

On the home front, my daughter, Krista is now in her 34th week of pregnancy.  She looks beautiful and the doctor says she is giving them an easy job.  We just had a baby shower for her with just her friends, her sister and myself.  She says she was surprised, I hope so :).  We can't wait until Max is born!

My husband just got back from Canada where he had a very enjoyable but cold visit with his brother, sister-in-law and our niece.  He says he has lots of pictures (I haven't seen them yet) and brought back quite a few gifts like the pooping bear keychain he gave me :).

My grandson Jack is still wonderful and he did visit with us last weekend.  We are always so amazed at how smart and handsome he is!  (You would think he was related to me or something).

I will leave you with one of my favorite songs from my very favorite singer, just because it makes me happy.  I hope it makes you happy as well.