10-15-10

Go Big Red!
Here she is getting ready to cheer on the Huskers! O.K., so maybe after a good long nap. Oh, seeing John there, please say some prayers for John, he goes into surgery this Friday to do some work on his pacemaker, and he is a bit worried about it!


Quinn made it through school the whole week, her breathing is really starting to calm down. Granted she is not totally quiet yet, but she is getting there! She made it through all her therapies, but by Friday night, water therapy was to exhausting, instead she started breathing like crazy, which helps Michelle and I both see that the breathing therapy would be so good for her! I’ll keep praying it goes through!

I think this might be a first that she was feeling good enough to go to school all three days that excite kids had school. We are also planning on cutting down to three days total for a while, until she is ready to handle more. We had a home visit this week. Chrissy, Joni, and Rachel came to our apartment, and we played with switches, and talked about goals, and Quinn showed off a bit which was nice to see.

Duck, as pictured when she was sleeping, is a big part of our lives right now, it seems like he is helping with all the transitions. She is so routine based, and having very little that is the same right now, is frustrating to her, so just having her duck is so nice. I am hoping she can find a couple animals to be her favorites, as it seems like we misplace duck sometimes, but duck is by far the favorite, so we will stick with him! I've found out he washes very nicely too, which is good!

A fun story from school, since I should probably not name names, I’m just going to call him D. D is from what I hear, one of the kids that I just love, who tends to get himself into trouble and can be a bit on the naughty side, but has a heart of gold. He is taking a big interest in Quinn, comment her on her lip gloss (chap stick). Helping take care of her, and play with her here and there. I just love to hear these stories! I have a few kids with disabilities in my classroom and I love to see who is comfortable stepping up to play with them, when it’s appropriate, or even help them with projects. I am bias, with having Quinn, but the kids that step up to be such good role models for the rest of their class, and for that special kiddo, are amazing for me to see. At the same time for the kids like D who can calm down and be so well behaved when tending to Quinn, that is such a big deal for them too! These experiences can change their lives for the better in so many ways. I love to see it in my classroom, and I love to hear about the positive wonderful interactions with Quinn. Kids like Quinn have so very much to offer all the other kids in their class! Tolerance, acceptance, kindness, caring….. it makes my lip quiver and a tear come to my eye just thinking about it.

Quinn’s breathing is getting so much better, her teachers have noticed, and so have all of us working with her. She is not totally back to herself, but having her do so much better, helps me do so much better, so our household is doing so much better, and talking about households, we are down to just the apartment! Thank God! Also down to less then 10 boxes that might be staying with us for the year. Phew! I like that very much!

To finish out, I just watched a show on bullies, and I know I like to see things in a positive light, and always try to find the good in things, but with Quinn, I have not heard any negative stories, at the same time, the school I teach at, I don’t see issues with bullies. If there is a problem, we stop it early. I’ve always had the philosophy that all kids are going to learn in my room. It might be about art, life, or character, they are all important, and the shows on TV paint such a negative light on schools, while I don’t see that at all. We as teachers and parents need to step up and do our job by teaching our kids about doing the right thing, acceptance, and compassion. Start early with interventions, and that saves a lot of issues down the road, that is what we are finding to be the case in our school, so at the same time, I am so thankful Quinn can start helping kids learn at an early age how everyone does have so much to offer. I was sad to see the negative side of bullies and know that is out there, but I am sure thankful I don’t see that with kids around Quinn or within my school. I sure hope that continues for everyone’s sake!