School Eve

Here it is the School Eve! Julia is anxious, but did manage to get dressed and ready for the day mostly by herself and without too much prodding. We did some reading work this morning and she was pretty patient working on a new book that is filled with new words. It is interesting how she remembers some words from book to book and some just go right past her. I too down a new group of sight words to work on. We walked the dog and now we are going to get the backpack and lunch box "ready."

So far, so good.

And she has on a new pink dress and is walking around with a pink magic wand. So far, she has not wished to stay home tomorrow.

Much later.

I kept our activity level very low stress today. Julia and I visited the school which was pretty empty and dimly lit. We visited the office and asked a question. We went through the library and saw a few aides who have worked with Julia. We went to her classroom which was open but empty and we left some supplies there We found the name cards for the students, and I read all the names to Julia. Then we left and went to buy sneakers for gym. When we got home, we put her old lunch box in the drier and packed her backpack. We didn't buy new ones for this year to see if having the familiar pack and lunch box will not be so jarring (and because I am cheap. Both the lunch box and the backpack are a bit worn but fine. Cheshire spoiled me on this stuff. She loved the $1 backpack she bought in 3rd grade and used it until 8th.).

Julia's new clothes have been in her closet for more than a week and she has been wearing them when she wants to.
Everything to ease the transition! Will it work? Will there be few screams tomorrow?

I have no idea.

She took a bath after we got home because we begin the new therapy schedule today and Julia's therapists were scheduled to come from 3 until 7:30. I didn't want to start the bath routine so late. We did have a dinner break but once again, this is an intrusion into our family rhythm. Ah, we change.

In Fung Shui, they say that if you change a certain number of things in the house, 21, I think, that the chi, life force, of the house will change. I am beginning to believe that it is also true about a person -- change diet and routine and reading, etc., and something in the spirit changes too.

This has been a very upsetting day in the adoption world. Very recently, the mother of a little girl who was adopted from China two years ago, was arrested for the murder of her daughter. The mother had a long, hard road to adopt this child, and the adoption community and her agency really went to bat for her. It sounds like the little girl was home for about a year before she died. We question the why -- was the mother so overwhelmed by a difficult child? Did she reach out to anyone? Was the someone to talk to? I don't mean that a difficult child is any reason for violence, but there are plenty of parents who cannot admit to the challenge of raising a child who may not be attached, who may tantrum and scream most of the day or reject the parent's every attempt to parent. Who knows if more support would have helped in this case? I can feel the sadness in the air.

I spent almost an hour tonight talking to one of Julia's teachers about plans, ideas, and activities for Julia. She asked about how Julia was feeling and what she could do to ease the transition to school. I am so grateful for the people who are on our team, who are our support, who do so much for Julia. We are so lucky. We are so fortunate.