by So… this happened! AJ had his first day of school today!
We had a rough start in the morning, we were all tired, but he was beyond tired and didn’t want to get up and moving. In the end we were only three minutes late, which is really quite an accomplishment if you know what it takes to get him out the door!
We walked AJ over to school and gave a presentation to his classmates to talk to them about his trach, gtube, suction and pulse ox machines, how he talks with his hands, etc. I present things in meetings all the time at work, but presenting to a group of three and four year olds is a much more terrifying process. They were all very welcoming though and just had a lot of “questions”. Thankful that his teacher knows how to manage a group of littles!
We left behind a new doll that has a trach and a gtube so that the kids could check it out and play with it. And we wrote a letter to send home with the parents of the other kids in the classroom so they know what their kids are talking about when they say things like “I wish I had a straw in my belly like AJ so I didn’t have to taste green beans”.
His report from his nurse who stayed with him was a little mixed, but mostly positive. He was definitely tired, and it was a lot more interaction and activity than he’s used to. He needed some cuddles and got a little pouty a couple of times but he kept it together and stuck through the whole day.
He did throw up – he wasn’t sick, it’s something we’ve been battling more lately… So we are going to have to mess around a little with his schedule for when he gets his food until we find what works best.
He skipped the end of the day recess to come home early, but for his first day, I’d call that a win. It’s going to take a while for him to get used to being around other kids and the amount of noise they make… not to mention to get used to not sleeping in every day!
Plan for tonight is to get him to bed earlier so he’s not so tired for school tomorrow and hopefully he will come out of his shell a little more each day!
