unEarthingMe

So, school started for us this week for the first time in seven years.  Leading up to it, Birdie, while nervous, became increasingly excited about the prospect.  My eldest on the other hand became increasingly stressed.  By Tuesday, I was pretty worried myself about how it would play out.

For Birdie, we've definitely had do deal with some emotional spin-out after school during the latter part of the week and over the weekend, however, she has come home from it pretty pumped and excited almost everyday.  She has the coolest teacher and they'll be doing many fabulous projects - like raising trout in the classroom - this year.  I really feel that she wil thrive in this social environment, which is why I chose the school.  Her class is predominately girls and they are a very kind, generous of spirit bunch.  The school has a focus on providing a nurturing, family-like environment and have an honor code that they take quite seriously.  She is transitioning the way I expected she would only more quickly, chattering on the way home about everything they did that day.

My big girl was in no mood to allow me to take a first day of school photo of her.  She was, in fact, in no mood to go to that first day of school.  She survived it though.  The second day she came home much less stressed or at least much less visibly stressed.  Day three, she seemed to have a little spring in her step.  She had stayed after for cross country.  I insisted that she join a Fall Sport because she had to give up PE to fit in classes for the Arts Emphasis program she wanted to do.  She, resister of exercise and social environs, came out of there telling me she enjoyed cross country.  On Friday, when I picked her up, she was about to burst with excitement.  The academic dean called her into his office to see if they could move her out of her algebra class.  She fully expected to be moved into pre-algebra.  Instead they asked if they could put her in honors algebra.  They seemed surprised at how surprised she was.  I am relieved and delighted by her enthusiasm to rise to the challenge - enthusiasm I haven't seen in a long time - and challenge...to make Arts Emphasis work, we had to rearrange her schedule so she now has some classes geared towards sophomores and juniors, plus the honors algebra.  I know she has at least three research papers this year as well.

I feel like I'm getting my girl back.  I haven't seen her assimilate so quickly into a group and with such confidence since we joined SHARE (one of our old homeschool co-ops).  I've had butterflies in my stomach for days.  not the nervous ones, the effervescent, giggly ones.  Could this actually be all I had hoped it would be?

Finally, we have made a decision on what Birdie will be doing this school year.

Finally, we have come to the end of weeks of doing therapeutic brushing with her every TWO hours!

Finally, we will stop driving to Charlottesville twice a week for back to back appointments with a tutor and with her occupational therapist.

Finally, the back to school clothes/uniforms and books have all arrived.

Finally, all of the paperwork, physicians forms and checks have been turned in to schools.

Finally, I can see coming, enough time to prepare the foods to keep us on track with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

and Finally, I had time to process some of those prolific Roma tomatoes from our garden.

Finally, I feel like I can breath.

My youngest has had so many nicknames over the course of her eight years that I wouldn't be exaggerating to say they neared fifty.  One of them that we seem to use most often currently is Birdie so, I think that's how I'll refer to her here.

I don't know anyone who gets as excited about holidays or parties as Birdie.  As a toddler and young child, she constantly got into the holiday decorations and went to town decorating no matter what the holiday or what time of year it was.  It's all so magical for her.  Just last night she worked frantically before my husband got home from work.  She picked petunias and wove them through the front gate.  Various colored flower petals were strewn upon the sidewalk leading to the front porch steps where she had staged various outdoor toys and decor creating this grand entrance when he arrived home.  It was really past when I wanted her in bed, but I let her sit out on the porch to watch for his reaction.  I so often feel like I'm crushing this decorating, party giving fairy in her because it's so darn messy and impractical.  Last night there was not a good enough reason to not go with it.

So, a couple of weeks ago, when Birdie turned eight, the pressure was on to create a little magic, especially in light of the fact that for the first time ever, there was no real party to speak of.  On birthday eve, my husband came home late with a mylar butterfly balloon and some crepe paper.  We arranged her gifts on top of the piano with some of her little stuffed animals.  The crepe paper guided your eye to that focal point.  There were pink, yellow and orange roses sent by my aunt.  The clasp at the end of the string meant to secure the balloon in place held her cards as though the butterfly had just flown in to deliver them.  Birdie herself had decorated the dry erase board with a big happy birthday message.  It was a hit.  Her delight was something I experienced on Christmas mornings as a child.

I hope that I can foster that excitement and magical spirit in her and that it continues to be infectious to those around her.

My good friend spent two days with us with her three daughters, the eldest of which is my little girl's BEST friend.  I have never seen two peas more comfortably in a pod.  It is beautiful to watch them play, to listen to their enthusiasm and imagination.  They both got American Girl dolls for their birthdays which actually won't occur until early August but, for various reasons these gifts came early.  My little one wanted to be sure that the doll she received was the best friend of the doll her best friend received.  So, just in the knick of time, the day our guests arrived, so too, did another much smaller guest via UPS.  The two girls had fun with their Kit and Ruthie dolls and then we had the adventure of taking these two girls who have sensory issues to the movie theater to see the Kit Kittredge movie. 

Once they made it past the extremely loud, but fortunately only slightly inappropriate preview (notice that was singular - only one ad - whew), they did beautifully with the movie.  That was a big relief for me because I had been unable to locate ear protection for them to deal with the overwhelming sound of the movies.  One of the wonderful things about getting them together is that they are willing to try things that they are usually too afraid to.  They support each other and know that the other completely understands (and lives) what they are going through.  It lets them feel the confidence to reach a little farther than their comfort level, knowing they'll be understood.

As far as the movie, I was impressed that they just let the story be what it was without feeling the need to add anything sensational or adult humor.  It's o.k. for a kid's movie to be a kid's movie.  Really, it is.  And it's o.k. for adults to enjoy it as such, or not.

The two of them held  hands and skipped as we left the theater, as we crossed the street and as we made our way up the alley to my car.  They continued their joyful play out in the yard and could be overheard running from "Jiggy Nye".  Apparently, they had switched to another American Girl story, that of Felicity.  J. also got to show off her "fairy garden" to our visitors and when best friend's sisters went to bed, they got to stay up and play a board game with the moms who, then got to have their own fun.

It is a joy to have friends who I can kick back with over some tequila and talk about ANYTHING, including the fact that we treasure, honor and protect the innocence of childhood.

I have more news.  Both of my girls will be in school as I prepare to take care of myself this year.  With the two of them enrolled at schools that will be a good match for their growth and happiness, I need to turn my attention to finding a doctor who can treat my vascular condition.  This means travel.  There was just no way for me to realistically do this while homeschooling now that my husband's work schedule becomes less flexible.

Though homeschooling, which I feel passionately about, has not been the positive experience since our move that it had in the past, I do not kid myself that this school year will be any easier for us.  This will be a year of big adjustments.  The girls have a total lifestyle change ahead of them in about a month.  And I will be doing just as much as I had been but, now the focus will be on helping them adjust to the classroom setting.  For my youngest, who deals with sensory integration issues, this will be exhausting.  I know that it will be worth the struggle and that this school will be a beautiful match for her socially.  It's going to take all I have to travel, have medical procedures, then help my girls with things like occupational therapy and different ways of organizing and scheduling their days.  There are certain things I have to let go of as far as my own educational philosophy of how children best learn and teach them strategies for how be sucessful in a school setting, all while trying to stick to our strict diet.

So, I begin this new chapter of our lives

 - hopeful... for the happiness that comes from making friends; for the opportunities and different experiences than I have been unable to supply recently; and for the strangely new time to focus on myself

 - and with a little sadness... for all of the beautiful time we have been able to spend together; for the Colonial Fair we hosted; for the bitter cold, rainy February day at Mount Vernon when there were (for once) no crowds and our little co-op could spend the entire day retaking the tour and asking prolonged questions of different interpreters; for the ability to change our schedule and spend hours on composing a song; for spending beautiful Shenandoah days together at a park or building a snowman during "school hours"; for the comradery of a group like SHARE at Home where I had as much fun with the moms as my girls had with their kids; and for being there to witness those a-ha moments when my kids grasp a new concept.

It is a bittersweet time filled with questions of what life will bring and excitement about new adventures.  So, we go forth.  We prepare for another chapter.