A different path

The first day of school is always a very exciting day at our house.  It has been talked about alot over the last few weeks, we shopped for a first day of school outfit and bought new lunch bags and backpack and all the stuff you need for a new year of school.

Lucas is in grade 3 this year and luckily he is in a class with many of his good friends and his teacher seems very nice (although Lucas said he thinks she is too organized :) , she makes them line up by their tribe number and that cuts into recess don't you know).

Sophie is SK age this year, but we decided with much debate that she will not go to big school until grade one.  She is continuing on her schedule of daycare 2 days a week.  Sophie loves her days at daycare because she is a social being, just like her brother.

It was an extremely painful decision for me to not send her to jk or sk.  I mean, her brother went so why wouldn't she?  Unfortunately things are never cut and dry with our Miss Sophie and I know realistically that we made the right choice but in my heart I ache for her missing out on Kindergarten.

Having a child with special needs is so complex that you never know what is going to throw you into uncertainty and make you second guess every decision you have to make.  But, we are 3 days into the school year and Sophie is very congested and not well.  Physically, medically, I know we made the right choice for her. 

We are having issues with hours for All Kids Belong.  AKB is a government program that provides funding to daycares to have assistants with children who have special needs so that they can attend daycare.  Apparently, now, all kids do not belong as the government has slashed funding for this program.  Our day care lost 10 hours, they are down to 16 hours a week now.  So Sophie will not have one on one assistance when she is at daycare anymore because there are two other SN children at the day care and they need some hours as well.    She will get 3-4 hours a day for her 2 days at care and what this means is that her safety could be in jeapardy if the teachers get busy with another group of children.  She cannot hold a crayon or turn pages of a book or do anything but watch if she does not have one on one care.  You get the idea.  We have asked for a meeting, I'll keep you posted.

We were able to celebrate that Sophie was moved up to the biggest pre-school room at the daycare, she is with all her peers again and with many of her friends that had moved up months ago.  It was the right time for her.   She is curious about the class and hopefully she will thrive and learn new things when we get everything sorted.

I was out shopping with Sophie and my mom last week when I came across a lunch bag and messenger bag that was so cute.  It is covered in adorable little owls and is pink and brown.  I have been using the same diaper bag for Sophie wherever we go for the last 5 years.  I decided that she is a big girl now and needed a big girl bag.  When she hits grade one she will be ready, we may even have to buy another one. ;)