My failure

Last week was Jacinda's first week of school and I have to admit...I didn't do so well. It wasn't the emotional "letting go" that got to me, it was my own high expectations for her to soar.
This is not an easy post to write as I have had a weekend to reflect and it comes down to this...I screwed up.
I spent days working with (i.e. stating my case, researching policy and fighting some) the local school system to get Jacinda in what I believed was the best placement for her...second grade. I dressed her in the cutest outfit, made sure her hair was beautiful and sent her off to the school beaming. That evening, she excitedly met me at the door and her teacher explained their homework. She had given each child a lunch bag and they were to fill it with items and make a "Me bag." Sounded like a fun excitement until I got home and discovered my own dear daughter didn't bring the bag home. She seemed to have no clue what I was talking about and it soon escalated into a ugly lecture time on responsibility.
I finally calmed down and pulled it together, only to have a repeat of bad behavior (mine not hers) the next evening.
I got a note home from the teacher that said they did simple math problems (2+3 and 1+5 were the examples given) and that Jacinda had struggled. I was livid. This child has been doing these same problems for much of the summer. Unfortunately I did not calmly approach the situation... not at all. I was ticked and she got ticked and it got ugly.
So I made up my mind that on Friday I was going to approach it differently and we did. She did do her math problems and got them all right.
Where my failure lies is that last week I asked this 8 year old girl, who may have never been in a school setting before to waltz in there and take the school by storm. I was selfishly worried that by her struggling in her first few days in second grade, heck, in her school career that it somehow undermined the hard work I had put into getting her in the class and the work we had done to prepare her. Somehow I made this about me and it isn't. It's about Jacinda. It's about a little strong-willed girl who is currently immersed in a classroom of native English speaking on-level second graders.
So this morning as I sent her off, I told her to try her best, to do what she knew how to do, to ask questions and to have a great day. I also know something she doesn't, there will be a non-screaming mommy waiting to celebrate even her littlest achievements when she gets home.
Because as ugly as last week was...Jacinda is still so excited to go to school every morning. Somewhere deep inside her, she gets it. Not every child has the opportunity to go to school to learn. She knows because until last Wednesday she was the child without that opportunity.
So GO JACINDA GO!!!!

The crazy life and times of J & D!

I wasn't even sure I remembered my blog password today when I tried to log on and I am pretty sure there isn't anyone out there who still tries to read this, but I feel like I need to get back into the swing of things...so here it goes.


There have been some big changes and some big events over the last month or so...Jacinda and I have vacationed at the beach, moved into a new house in a new city, registered her for dance classes and been through our first post placement visit, immunizations and the beginning of school testing. We have been busy, busy gals.


Let's start with the vacation...honestly this seems like it was so long ago, I need to go again to recapture the feeling, but since that isn't likely to happen, I will have to do the best I can. Jacinda LOVED the beach, the sand, the ocean, the waves...all of it. She had a blast and I am so happy that her first vacation was such a hit with her. We went to Ocean City with Aimee and her girls. That was a new experience for all of us, but I think all in all...we did pretty well. We took the girls to Frontier Town where Jacinda rode the stagecoach, panned for gold, watched a crazy dance show and rode a pony. On another of our outings she rode several amusement rides until we were rained out...sadly! All in all it was a very fun time!

Then a week after returning from our vacation...Jacinda and I packed up all of our belongings and moved back to my hometown in West Virginia. It was an emotional farewell, but our new house and being so close to our family is really the greatest things for us. We're still unpacking and working on getting things put back in order, but all in all we love it! Especially the fact that people just swing by for little visits...I truly cherish that time!

And then three days after the big move, Jacinda had her doctor's appointment. She is healthy and got her school immunizations. She did great! Then we went to get her bone age scan done, which confirmed what I had thought for a long time. Despite being ensured by my agency coordinator that Jacinda was 5. (Even going as far as to say "Trust me Diann, I have met her and she is 5", turns out my girl is 8 years and four months old. That being said, I have decided to keep her assigned birth date of Oct. 31 and have her turn 8 then. Let the party plans begin!

In addition to all the happenings I have also had her tested for school placement. This turned out to be an interesting process since the school district we are in hasn't had an ESL student in probably a decade. But I am really happy to report that the educators have been great to work with and have allowed me to place her age appropriately in the second grade and will be getting an English Language Learning teacher assigned in the next week or so.

So that being said, Jacinda started Second grade yesterday. She was a trouper and made some new friends. She easily reported on what they had for lunch and how she played on the playground. She made a trip to the library and drew a few awesome photos. She missed the point of a homework assignment though and didn't bring the supplies home. I kind of got upset about that and the fact that she lied about it, so I wasn't the nicest mommy on the block last night. But this morning we talked about how it was important to bring all homework home and how she needed to speak up in class. She was excited to go again this morning, so I think that is a great sign. I also sent a note to school for the teacher letting her know that Jacinda may need some extra guidance when it comes to bringing things home. So we'll see how day 2 goes!

Well three months has officially passed and we had our post placement visit last week. I love our new social worker, so it was really a very easy and painless process.

So that pretty much brings everyone up to date and now we will continue to settle into our new normal!