It’s been three weeks since Jessie moved to Wellesley, and we’re adjusting. Four weeks since Julianna started back in public school, and she’s thriving. Less than a week since Sam started braille, and he’s oddly proficient for a kid who had three months of braille instruction three years ago.
Because the Jewish holidays happened so early this year, Julie’s missed three days of school within the first two weeks. Despite not being there all that often, she still got sick almost immediately. We’ve covid tested her twice so far, and it’s not covid, but it’s a bad cold. And since we’ve all been in covid isolation since March 13, 2021 – we all got sick. She was hard core sick for the better part of a week, and is getting better, but Marc and Sam are right in the throes of it now. Both of them get really gross head colds – and they’re both kind of gross right now. I’m barely starting, and hoping that if I get a good night’s sleep tonight, I’ll be all better tomorrow.
Other than the cold, I have to say that Julie going back to school is an absolute positive. She’s Julie again – she chatters with me in the car, walking me through every part of her day. She’s smiling and laughing more, making friends and feeling comfortable and relaxed. I’ve got my baby back again. Covid isolation was so horrible for her. And two years into it, she’s a different kid than she was. She’s more serious, more thoughtful. More introspective and more… aware of everything. But she hasn’t lost that joy and that sense of fun. I wish I could have given this to her last year – but if I’d had any control over anything, things would be a lot different.
With my Sammy – oh, man, that’s still such a battle. We finally found a braille instructor/TVI, but she can only commit to about half the time that he’s supposed to be getting under his IEP. So I’m still functioning as a woefully inadequate TVI, but now he’s learning braille again, and feeling more empowered and capable. I arranged to have the sessions down at the WPL, only partly because this way I get to go to the library three times a week. But mostly it was about having him out of the house, forming a relationship with a teacher that doesn’t involve being at home. He’s not agoraphobic, at least, I don’t think so. Not in the traditional sense. But he does have some serious anxiety issues, and he also has been at home for a year and a half because of covid, has photophobia so going out in the day time is potentially painful, and is doing online schooling. So even if he isn’t technically agoraphobic, it feels like he is functionally. I jump at any opportunity to get him out of the house and with other people.
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