Nervous Anticipation!

Many events being a parent of twice exceptional kids can lead to nervous anticipation.  We never know what each day will bring.  What is typically an exciting or fun day for most parents can be full of stress and agony for a parent of children with disabilities.

School is starting soon.  For most parents this is a time of excitement and joy.  We do have joy and excitement at the beginning of the school year, but we are also full of anxiety and nervous anticipation for what the new school year will bring.  We have yet to have a relaxing simple school year.  When we drop our kids off in the morning we are nervous picking them up in the afternoon, worried about what may or may not have happened at school.

Every school year we have been dealt some difficult situations, that I hope no other parent ever has to go through.  We have had a teacher who refused to allow my daughter to use a certain type of crayon to help her not break the crayons.  We had a little boy bully our son in preschool and the teachers would discipline Hunter for yelling when he got hit.  My daughter was suspended for turning over a desk after being accused of "stealing" a piece of scotch tape.  My son has been suspended so many times I can't even describe each instance (and he's only starting 2nd grade this year).  My daughter was suspended after hitting another girl with a willow leaf, after being surrounded by 8-9 other girls teasing her.  We've had principals that clearly did not want our children in their school.  We have had district staff fight us over a diagnoses to the point we had to contact an attorney.  We dread a phone call coming from the school.

In all that we have had a few very positive experiences.  We had a wonderful Kindergarten teacher that saw that Hunter was a sweet boy even on his bad days.  A teachers assistant that I think really loved Hunter and was truly sad when he left the school.  A young teacher that found ways to help Shana keep her desk organized which helped her stay on track during the day.  A principal that could take a potentially embarrassing situation and make it alright.  A teacher that really saw the gifts in Hunter and helped him to finally feel happy at school again.

I have no idea what this year will bring.  We have some big changes and it is very scary.  Shana is a 5th grader and is excited to be a big kid in the school but at the same time is still often a lot like a little girl.  We hope her year will be peaceful and fun.  Hunter starts virtual school, something new and exciting, yet a little scary for us both at the same time.

As I pick up the final school supplies and clothes I think about how this year may be.  Will this be the year that we finally enjoy the year.  Is that even possible?  This year feels different than the last few.  Each of the other years we have started with IEP meetings and discussions over behavior plans.  This is the first year that we are enjoying the back to school time and hoping for a year of fun, excitement, growth and joy!