The past three years have been the best I can recall! Thanks to my girl, I have had the pleasure of meeting all sorts of different folks. Teachers, social workers, doctors, therapists, other families with children who have a disability and many others, have all made a huge impact on our lives. I always knew the day to say goodbye to them was unavoidable, but I never really gave a thought to it.
Reality set in about a week ago.
Last Tuesday marked the first round of goodbyes. It was such a bittersweet day. I dearly love PP's therapists because they were our go-to people for anything we couldn't understand about her. They helped shed light on so many of PP's mysteries and were more than willing to help in any way they could. These ladies always went above and beyond for our family. We were incredibly fortunate to have the same teachers for the duration of these challenging times and I count on my lucky stars for that! Each of them would visit PP on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis spanning over every school year in the last three years! That's a lot of time to spend with any person, and it gave me a lot of time to make very close and unique relationships with each of them. It's hard for me to imagine not having someone come to our house to 'play' or listen to our challenges of the week anymore. It's really quite sad to think about.
On a brighter side, the amazing work of PP's education team is the reason my girl can walk, feed herself, wash her own hands and play with purpose. They are the reason she is SO ready to go to preschool! They have been keeping my sanity intact since PP was just a month old and are only reasons why I am OK with sending PP off to preschool. I can't thank them enough for everything they have done for our family! Also, PP and I are welcome to drop by their offices to say howdy anytime! So maybe it's not so much of a goodbye, it's more like a see-ya-later.
This past Tuesday was the day I had to say goodbye to PP's Teacher Lezli. I took that pretty hard. I cried. She has been there for me as a mom in every way possible while teaching me how to understand and properly nurture my daughter. She really understands what it is like to be a Special Parent. I already miss her terribly. I will be sure to bring PP into her office soon and tell her all about preschool!
Today marked our last day of ECFE class. The class is called Special Friends and the name couldn't be more perfect. By going to this class, PP was introduced to other children and a school setting at a very young age. She met a bunch of other kids who were as far from being typical as herself and I had the luxury of meeting their parents. I can't find the right word to express the emotions these kids make me feel. I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch PP's awe-inspiring classmates grow up for years. They have taught me (and their own parents) things I never could have imagined! The Special Parents are some of the bravest, most supportive and genuine people I've ever met. It's very odd to think that we were all just strangers brought together for the sake of our children because I fondly think of the parents of Special Friends as a family. Finding common ground in uncommon children has saved all of us from feeling lost, hopeless and alone. Our parting words brought tears to my eyes. However, today was definitely NOT the last time I will see them! I'm just sad that PP and I won't see them every week anymore.
I think it goes without saying that I have been feeling sad and crying a lot this week, but that's OK. If I've learned anything from school it is that tears are welcomed. I have grown so much because of everyone involved with PP, and that includes letting myself show my emotions when I feel down.
Don't worry, I'm also happy when I'm happy! Which is my mood most of the time.
I am especially happy today because it's HALLOWEEN! I've known that today would be the last day I would give farewell hugs and tell PP to wave bye-bye. After the hard parts were over, I whipped up a really awesome DIY no-sew hooded cape for PP's "Plague Doctor" costume, got myself excited for new beginnings and candy.
Preschool, BRING IT ON! It starts Monday! Wish PP good luck! It's gonna be quite an experience.
Also, please make a note that today is the 4th anniversary of my relationship with Chris. In a nutshell, we have been through a helluva lot and we still love each other. We both forgot it was our anniversary today due to the unusual pace at which we've been operating for the past two weeks, but I know we will have many more anniversaries to celebrate so it's not too much to fret about. Now we are gonna go make sweet cards for each other to apologize. Aren't we cute?!
This was our Halloween costume this year.
He kissed a 'boy' and LIKED it!
I manned up to show everyone to VOTE NO in Minnesota.
I manned up to show everyone to VOTE NO in Minnesota.
We hope you do, too!
Spooky dreams and sweet candy
XoX
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