We are now 2 months in to pre-k for Oliver, and although we still fight the early morning rises, he loves it! Two weeks in and he stopped crying during morning drop offs, which was a huge step. I no longer spend my days wondering what would happen if he gets lost, wakes up from nap and misses me, or even worrying about him having lunch without me.
Every day that I get to pick him up from school, I am excited to hear about what he learned that day.
Yesterday he told me he learned the letter ‘F’. He went on to show me how he pronounces the letter and what word would go with it. “Ffff, Fffff people!”. Not exactly the way it works, but it was cute none the less. So far I have heard him sing the days of the week, and even the months of the year! It truly amazes me how quickly they can catch on and learn new things.
Our school just had a new playground installed and what a blessing, we got a wheelchair accessible swing! Oliver has yet to use it (he is still getting over the fear of being the first one), but we love that this was added not only for our son but for future children to come. I would also like to share that I am so proud of how the staff and teachers at Oliver’s school have gone above and beyond to reach out to me in times of need, when they had questions, or even suggestions for different things.
I remember back in June, my husband Aaron and I were so scared to “release” Oliver in to the real world.
We were frightened that kids would not understand his disability, or only see him for that and be scared to interact with him. Above all else, we were nervous that Oliver would not adapt to being away from home for such a long period of time, five days a week. Sounds like most parents, right?
Well, like most parents we are here now with a child who has an abundance of friends, who can’t wait to leave us in the morning, and who can’t wait to come home and see us in the afternoon. Going to school has really helped my little Oliver blossom and open up in to this friendly, bubbly kid.
I am so proud that he gets to teach and bring awareness to this generation of children and help them grow in to sharing kindness with children of all ages and abilities.