Dear Addie,
And just like that, it was the 100th day of school. Traditionally not anything I’d actually find to write about, but with this being your last year at this school, I find nostalgia in just about everything. I’m basically an emotional mess 24/7 these days.
You see Addie, I’ve been researching middle schools for you since mid-year of 4th grade. Seems counterintuitive, seeing that we’ve had such amazing luck with public schooling that I wouldn’t just assume our luck would continue, but there’s a keyword in all that— “luck.” It shouldn’t be that way, but unfortunately, it’s the nature of the beast. While we’ve remained positive and unscathed through our elementary years in our county (yay Oakview!), there are a lot that have not, and their experiences are something to pay close attention to ESPECIALLY when you have a child that is minimally verbal, or able to communicate what’s going on during their day. There’s a trust that is unmeasurable we put in our teachers, therapist, and administration. It’s the one department of schooling where the lines get blurred between how much personal information one must know about us and for good reason, making my being “picky” about where our next chapter is written all too real and important.
This special education department has known you for 6 years. They’ve been there on your good days, and even the bad days where I thought for sure they would request I pick you up, but no, they remained confident in their abilities to help lovingly guide you through whatever was going on. There are simply not enough Starbucks gift cards I could give to truly show just how much they mean to us, which brings me back to 100 days.
With Valentine's piggybacking on your “last 100 days” celebration of elementary school, I decided the best way to show our love & appreciation of everyone, including your classmates that have been with us for numerous years, was with a pizza party for both ECS classes (I didn’t think your friends would appreciate Starbucks gift cards – just saying.) Yes, I am every personal trainer or nutritionist's worst nightmare - food is my emotional comfort and my celebratory bestie! Perhaps I was a food critique in a past life…but I digress.
This week we checked yet another box of lasts as we are edging closer to the end of this chapter in our story. An end that I personally and mentally am struggling to come to terms with, but instead of just checking that box, we celebrated our love for everyone who was written in this chapter of our lives with a little bit of pizza 😉.
Hope you enjoyed your party!
Love always,
Mom
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