Loooong Week
Yeah, I apologize for my absence. Or maybe you didn’t notice- I shouldn’t be presumptuous! Anyway, last week was kind of long. With peaks and valleys. On Monday, it was my birthday. Yes, I’m 33 now. Brett says it’s still considered early 30′s. Whew! We had a BBQ with friends last weekend, and then on Monday Brett and I went out to dinner. It was great fun! Thursday, however, I hit my valley when we had a meeting with Emma’s Team (a.k.a. Team Emma). Well, what they said honestly came as a surprise to me. I wasn’t expecting it. Because Emma was doing better at home. But now? Not only is she (still) aggressive towards other kids (which is so not Emma), but she’s not progressing academically. Cognitively. Not at all. When you’re not expecting to hear that, it kind of feels like a punch in the gut. Like I seriously had a hard time breathing. Because I wasn’t expecting it. It’s one thing if you’re expecting the news. Which, in retrospect, is kind of shocking. I mean, I’m pretty much on my A Game all the time with her. Pretty observant, and in the know. Notsomuch.
So what do you do in that situation? Well, if you’re me, you have a pretty rotten day where you bite your lip for most of it. You go through “why Emma?” and “why me?” spells sporadically. You cherish the time at work so your mind stays preoccupied. You trudge through your workout, pouring out all your energy into it. And you pause on the food consumption for the day. You also email the resource teacher for clarification and questions.
And Friday? You put on your big girl panties, damnit, and get to work. Fortunately, I’ve learned to feel sorry for myself for very short periods of time. And then I just figure out what I need to do and get to it. Unfortunately, at this point, there’s not much I can do. The good news? The resource teacher and I want the same things for Emma. Basically, more time with her aide, and more time in the resource room. It’s become apparent that Emma gets too frustrated in the general ed setting. Therefore she acts out, becomes disruptive, and can be a bully. So, let’s take her out of that situation. Right now we’re on hold, waiting for the psychologist to get back with her schedule so we can set up an IEP meeting to revise it. As it seems, no one will have to be bowing down because we’re all on the same page.
I’ll keep you posted on when the IEP meeting occurs. At this point I’m just ready to get the ball rolling. When it comes to Emma and what she needs, I can become impatient. I’m not going to sit around for too long.
Onward and Upward!
Oh, that’s definitely hard to hear. I’m thinking that maybe it’s just one of the less fun hurdles she’ll have to deal with, but that it’s temporary. It sounds like she’s just overstimulated. Makes sense that the cognitive stuff will suffer if she’s totally overwhelmed. I hope it’s short lived and she adjusts soon. For BOTH your sakes.
That punch in the gut is sooo not fun. It’s hard to know everything that’s going on at all times, too. You have a terrific attitude in just getting in there and getting it done. I get impatient, too, because some of these things seem to take FOREVER. I’ll be waiting to hear about the IEP.