Let the games begin!

This week will be Mary's first full week of school, which started last Wednesday. So far, so good. When I ask if she had a good day at school, she replies, "I absolutely had a great day!" That is so good to hear. We still have not had any homework to deal with, and won't until next week. This week is for testing and seeing where everyone is academically. Being in school all day has had such a positive effect on her attitude as well. Mary is more cooperative, and less moody when she gets home. I know it is because she is fully engaged all day, instead of being at home going stir crazy! That is one child that needs to interact with others on a regular basis!

With the start of the new school year, come sports, and practices, and running my children all over town. Mary would like to join the cheerleading team this year at her school. I am a bit apprehensive because, while Mary loves to dance around and cheer, she does NOT like when the whistle blows! Hearing that shrill noise causes her to look for the nearest chair to crawl under. Towards the end of the last school year, her PE teacher told me she was doing great during PE whenever the whistle blew. Mary I guess got used to it, and no longer covered her ears or ran for cover. I have noticed a slight change in her reaction to some loud noises. Add the crowds and the cheering, the buzzer for the scoreboard, and the whistle? I should probably take her to a couple of basketball games myself so I can see for sure how she deals with it. Mary is so excited to do this though, and she assures me she can handle it. As in, "Mom, I'm 10 now, I can handle this"! I have to let her try. I am not however looking forward to all the scheduling, and running around. I could always count on Mary having only 1 day a week where she would have to be somewhere, now it will be practice one day, then games every week, at all different schools. I will tell you though, if she does this and has fun, and doesn't freak out, I will be happy to be running around like a chicken without a head!

One more week

It's been a while since I've written anything. I am patiently awaiting Mary's first day of school next Wed., my other 2 went back this week. I am temporarily in limbo, I don't know what the heck to do with myself. Overall it's been a good summer. I really didn't have much planned for my kids this summer, one beach week and 2 seperate weeks of camp. I have always given them a full summer, so I thought we would take it easy this year. Well clearly, I need to find a happy medium. Everybody was bored to death, except my son who spent 3 weeks with his cousins in Virginia. Last year they complained about having to get up early all the time to go to camp. I'll figure it all out next year.

One thing I've learned about Mary is, if she gets too much of something, that's all she wants to do. Just like hanging out with her friends, she became obsessed with seeing them everyday. My oldest daughter Sarah whom Mary idolizes, spent a lot of time with Mary. Well, that led to Mary constantly asking for Sarah, even calling her on the phone at 7 in the morning! Then towards the end of the summer, we didn't really go out much at all. So when I do need to go out, like to the grocery store, Mary says "NO" I am not going! Apparently she has become obsessed with sitting and watching t.v. all day. My fault, I know.

Here are just a few things Mary has shown growth in this summer. As I said before, she is asking more questions about how and why things are the way they are. Some things are a bit odd, she asked me yesterday where the mail came from, did it come from a factory? Funny the things we take for granted that our children just should automatically know. Although Mary has spent plenty of time on the computer, playing games and of course watching t.v. episodes, she has now learned how to shop online. Much to my dismay, when I say we need to go to Target or the mall, she will look up websites to see what she can get. Probably the biggest thing, I don't know how, but she figured out how to play solitaire on my Ipod. Solitaire requires numbers in sequence, and every other color is the same. It seems that all the things she has trouble with, math, following more than one step at a time, is involved in that game, but she figured it out! I asked everybody in the house, no one helped her.
We seem to be on a no string pulling streak, however, I have noticed her twirling her hair. I thought, thank God, finally something non-destructive. That was until I had to unknot her hair! Can't wait to see how all this plays out when school starts. Stay tuned.....

Camp Success!!

Well, camp Phineas and Ferb was a huge success. Mary's counselors said she did fine, she woke up every morning ready to go and remembered all she had to bring with her. Remembering her lunch box and a sweater were easy, I was surprised because her lyrics which were all over the house all week long, managed to be in her hands every morning, with NO reminders from me!
Friday there was a small performance to end the camp. This included 4 song and dance numbers, which made Mary very nervous. Even though she was practicing all week, she was still nervous, more for the fact that people would be watching her. I admit, I was afraid she would stand out like a sore thumb, not being able to follow along with the rest of the kids. Boy was I wrong! Mary had all the moves down, even though singing and dancing at the same time was difficult, she did not look any different than the rest of the kids. As a matter of fact, she did better than one poor uncoordinated child. We did have one hairy moment in between songs. Mary noticed her shoe lace was untied. This I know, sent her into a tizzy, I know she could not focus on anything other than getting that shoe tied. I could see the look on her face, her eyes searching, her foot, the people, her teachers. Finally, she couldn't take it, she bent down to tie the shoe, and one of her teachers ran over and did it for her quickly, so Mary could catch up to the other kids. The entire process probably took all of 2 minutes, but to me it seemed like an hour, in slow motion! Needless to say, Mary didn't miss a beat, she was happy, smiling, and knew just what she had to do. All of which left me with tears in my eyes, and a heart swollen with pride. Next summer, I will not be looking into any "special needs" camps!

Camp day!

Well, I dropped Mary off at camp this morning. I just love those moments when you realize that everything happens for a reason. The camp Mary was supposed to go to was cancelled, so I signed her up for one with kids who are not special needs. Well, we get there and she sees not 1, but 3 girls she knows from her old school. As luck would have it, they were probably the only 3 who actually played with her at that school. After dropping her off, I left not feeling stressed or worried, but happy, maybe a little humbled? You see, I realized that the special needs camp was cancelled just so Mary could be in this one, so she could feel just like everybody else. As I said before, I don't give her enough credit, I have little hope that she will fit in with so called, "normal kids". Mary is as normal, if not more normal than some kids I have seen!

Stay tuned for camp Phineas and Ferb, the results.....