Christian's Journey

It's the eve of Christian's last day of preschool and I'm baking.

It's for the teachers and the aids. I have no idea what's an appropriate gift for someone who's cared and nurtured your child for almost two years now. So she gets cookies? It's all I got. And it's not just the teacher, Christian had a team of equally important people who had faith and belief in him every day. People who loved on him, talked to him, cared about him, and got excited for him when he did something new.

So everyone is getting sweets with some kind of chocolatey influence. Because that's what I do for people I appreciate. I bake. And just like the very first IEP meeting where I baked for everyone and it didn't quite come out right, it's happening again. Eh, full circle, right?

We went to the zoo on Saturday for end of the year preschool fun. Some of Christian's classmates were there and so was his teacher and an aid of his. Some of the kids came over to say hello and then they were off to feed the giraffe and to see the elephants. I wasn't sure if everyone was sticking together but it was hot and a little chaotic with all the little bodies so we went on our way to see what we wanted to see. And when I say "we" I mean Lola.

It was pretty representative of this point of transition for Christian. We've been in this safe, little bubble - his preschool class. Where everyone loves him. But outside of the class, those kids want to run and play. And Christian can't exactly do that on his own. So we make our own way.

That's no different than the safe bubble of our home and our family. It's business as usual here but as soon as we step outside we're reminded that things are different. And we'll need to make our own way.

But it has been a beautiful two years of preschool. We started out thinking Christian wouldn't be able to handle typical kids yelling and bouncing all over him. But now he loves it. He really loves being around other kids. No big deal if they're banging toys around or yelling hello in his face. He is totally down with it.

I think Christian is more okay with bursting out of the bubble than we are. And who says he can't run and play?

I just finished up Lola's registration for her ISR refreshers.

So, naturally, it's that time of year where I must express how important ISR is for children.

If you'd like to hear the whole story and what brought us to ISR, why Lola does ISR, and why I'm so passionate about it, watch the video above. If you feel compelled to donate to the ISR scholarship fund, please do so. You will save lives.

It's getting warmer, which brings the potential for playing in the water and pool time. I could go on about what an amazing program ISR is and how it has saved lives and will save lives. I could tell you that ISR is NOT simply a swimming lesson. It's a SELF RESCUE program, teaching children to save themselves if they fall in any body of water be it a pool, a pond, or a fountain.

I could brag on Lola learning to float at the age of six months old, screaming almost all the way because she's a screamer. I could also tell you that it really didn't bother me because a screaming child isn't a drowning child because drowning is silent.

I could go on. But instead I'm going to tell you about a three year old little girl that died yesterday. She drowned at a family get together.

This particular story, being one of the first drownings of the season, punched me in the stomach a little harder than most. I think maybe because I was watching it on our local news and I just gave a story to that very channel featuring the story. Additionally, this network runs an entire series every summer about water safety.

But then I remembered that many people, maybe even hundreds see our story or stories on the news and don't really think about it after the fact because it could never happen to them or their child. Because they watch their child. It's okay. That's what I thought, too.

This thing about "spreading the word" makes us feel better but I'm not sure it can really connect unless you accept that human error is a real thing that nobody of which nobody is immune.

The news story that accompanied the piece about the drowning death interviewed another woman who spoke about her child almost drowning (thankfully, the child turned out to be okay) and it happening surrounded by adults at the pool. Her child simply slipped under the water. Silently. The news story finished up suggesting that sometimes too many adults around the pool gives a false sense of security because everyone thinks everyone else is watching the children.

So therein lies the mission I'm on to spread the word about ISR. There is human error in this world, people. It's with me, it's with you, it's with us all. Despite knowing about barriers, despite knowing CPR, all it takes is a minute. Maybe the same minute you reply to a facebook status or read this blog post.

Consider giving your child the skill of saving themselves no matter what happens. Barriers can fail - children are crafty and can get over and under barriers - adults supervision can lapse, floating devices can deflate.

I'm not saying all of the above mentioned methods of water safety aren't important. Please, don't misunderstand me.

I'm just saying consider giving your child the skill to save themselves no matter what.

It's the end of the school year and it tends to get a little busy around here.

We are okay.

Get ready. I'm about to blow your mind.

Okay, maybe it's blowing my mind.

I'm just gonna say it...

CHRISTIAN IS GOING TO START KINDERGARTEN IN THE FALL!!!

I can't even wrap my brain around this and the only thing reminding me is that I had the first portion of his IEP meeting for full day kindergarten beginning in the fall this morning.

Full day? Are you crazy? I guess he is going to be five. And he did just loose his first tooth...

Oh yeah, HE LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!

He didn't loose it so much as I pulled it. Christian's teeth are all kind of loose in his gums. Nothing crazy like any will just fall out or anything but they're weak because they aren't used regularly to chew or talk. So they're not as strong and for that reason I keep a close eye on those suckers.

I was brushing Christian's teeth the other day and I noticed his tiny little tooth rocking back and forth. None of his teeth are THAT loose. But this little tooth was wiggling away. He fluttered his tongue and pushed against it and it popped forward. It was a genuine loose tooth!

I couldn't just let it hang out there like that because it was for sure a choking hazard. So I pulled it! Eeeeew! I've never pulled a tooth in my life. Not even my own when I was little and loosing teeth. It just skeeved me out. But I sucked it up, grabbed a tissue, wiggled it a little, and out it came with no effort. He didn't even flinch.

Loosing a tooth, or shedding any of his baby attributes in general, is really bittersweet for me. It's a piece of the old Christian. I can't help but think about that. It was one of his first teeth. Right on the bottom. It's tiny like when it first came. It chewed his first solids. And now it's gone. It stops me in my tracks a little. This whole issues is the reason I can't part with a single piece of his baby clothing.

On the other hand, he's growing up! And it's an age appropriate, normal occurrence, albeit a tad early. And we celebrate any normal occurrence in this house.

So his official IEP meeting for kindergarten is Friday. And I'm thinking about what to bake. Yes, I bake for IEP's. It makes everyone happy to get doped up on sugar at 830 in the morning. I'm thinking Blondies and Nutella filled sugar donut muffins.

Wish us luck! Maybe we won't need luck. We have sugar!