7 Quick Takes Feast of St. Bartholomew

--- 1 ---

 

She looks so sweet.  Yet, all week she has screamed at me as though she is the commandant of this German POW camp and I am the American GI.  I think she's going to break me.

--- 2 ---

 WARNING:  WHINING AHEAD.  SKIP TO QUICK TAKE #5 TO AVOID THE PITY PARTY.

--- 3 ---

Whoa, Nelly.  This whole "being screamed at all week and not getting any sleep" coupled with "back to school early alarm clocks and making two meals before 7am"  might be part of my problem. 

 

--- 4 ---

 Plus, some of the residents here had unwelcome visitors.  Not the kind that bring suitcases either.  The kind that require a fine toothed comb.  I am somewhat of an expert on that type of thing now.  This was our third go-round in two years.  I may grace you with an in-depth post answering everything from "How can you tell?" to "How not to melt the headbands and barrettes."  I know you're interested.  (Hint:  For the baseball season:  Each child needs his or her own batting helmet.)

I am so, so, very grateful that I made this discovery at 2 pm, and not at 11:30 pm like last time.

Thank you, Jesus.

--- 5---

NOW, FOR THE GOOD STUFF...

In other news, I was the recipient of some very direct, in my face, divine intervention on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary no less.  I had every intention of telling you all about it, but I got all teary faced that day, and then I got busy with Rid on Thursday.  So what was meant to be a post, will now become a Quick Take.

Last Christmas, I had a heart to heart with my sister, Mary about her godson, Edmund, and his difficulty reading.  As a teacher herself, she had lots of insight and encouraged me to get him tested for learning disabilities. 

We looked into testing through the state and testing privately.  We had him privately tested in the spring, and lo and behold, he's not stupid.  He's not lazy.  He has a learning disability in reading that might be overcome with help, or might end up as lifelong dyslexia.  In either case, he needs a lot of support in reading.

Early in July, his wonderful, wonderful tutor moved away.  In mid-July, my sweet sister passed away.  And I really was stressed about what to do for Edmund educationally all summer, with very little guidance.

But Jesus and Mary, my sister, and I'm sure Mary, His mother had it all under control.

First of all, our Catholic parochial school has a new principal, as of July 1st, who has an amazing background in special ed and has parented a child with learning disabilities herself.  She encouraged me to keep Edmund at this school, and assured me that she would do everything in her power to make sure his accommodations are met.

I have to point out that private schools are legally under no obligation to make any modifications for students with disabilities. But she is willing to make changes for my kid, that she legally doesn't have to make, because she cares about kids.  She cares about MY kid. 

Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Then, I had a very long meeting with Edmund's teacher.  Even though she, herself isn't trained to work with children who have learning disabilities, she is very willing to work with Edmund, with his long list of modifications and with any tutor that Edmund might have.   This woman is ready to give freely of her time for my child.  She wants to help him.  And she is going out of her way to do so, in an underpaid position, as a diocesan teacher, because she cares about kids.  She cares about MY kid. 

She also wept with me when I told her about Mary, and the impact Mary has had on Edmund and his education.

And she asked me to ask Mary to guide her this year as she tries to guide Edmund.

That's why I love my Catholic parish school.

Oh, and did I mention, that I saw this teacher in the front pew every night of the Sacred Heart novena back in June?

Coincidence?  Nah.

Only one problem.  I had no tutor for Edmund.  No specialist with the necessary training to meet his needs and to help re-educate him in reading using a multi-sensory curriculum.  This is the one piece of the puzzle that could really impact Edmund and turn his disability into ability.

I had made a few inquiries, sent an email, left a voicemail, and heard nothing.

But on Wednesday, which was the first day of school, I was driving home, and thinking about Mary, and asking her again to intercede for her godson that he might have a positive learning experience, if not academically, at least emotionally. 

And when I got home I got a phone call from a fabulous and energetic tutor, who is excited to work with Edmund this year, understands his disability better than I do, and wants to meet with his teacher.

chills.

Thanks, Mary.

You totally rock.

--- 6 ---

While I was "treating" Peter, he asked if I was going to give Baby J the treatment.  I said no, and explained that children under 2 shouldn't get the treatment and that even older children have had bad reactions to it.  I mentioned that I've even heard of this toxic stuff causing seizures and such.

Then, I kind of, accidentally, got some it in his eye.  

He moaned and said, "Oh, no! Now, I'm going to have a seizure in my eye!   Well, at least I won't have any lice in my eye."

He makes me laugh.  And Lord knows, I needed a laugh right about then.  

---7---

Call Me Maybe + The Dark Knight + I know this kid from Peter's school, and I can't believe he has a half a million hits already = AWESOME!

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