Sing it with me!

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!

School begins today in San Francisco, California.

Rejoice and be glad!

One student in this house is very excited.  She is ready to be a senior in high school. She is excited that she will have another girl in her class this year. (Maggie has been the lone girl for two years.) She is ready to be out of this house and busy all day long. Maggie has been making sentences about it all weekend. All day yesterday I heard,

"Mom, I am excited to go to school tomorrow on Monday, Mom."

"Yes, dear, so am I. This is what you call a win win situation."

Here's the Happiest student in the world ready to begin Senior year. I hope she doesn't torment the freshman.

And for nostalgia, here's the Staples commercial that I miss so very much this time of year.

Back to School

Maggie's Spring Break is over and I'm not sure who was happpier, her or me. Probably her.

She didn't get to have much fun, that's for sure. Even though we were able to get the car back on time on Friday afternoon, her wheelchair broke on Sunday meaning we couldn't really go anywhere, my excellent duct tape repair notwithstanding. It was fixed by Tuesday and then the rain started. She also spent all of Thursday morning at UCSF for a scheduled pulmonology appointment and tests. Bleak.

We did manage a trip to Macy's Union Square on Wednesday. We need a new chair for the nurses. The last one was really cheap and it didn't last at all, so we bought a nicer chair. It will arrive on Thursday. Maggie thinks watching me try out chairs is just about the funniest thing in the world, so that was a high point. Also, it is the Spring floral show at Macy's and the first floor was beautiful.

We went to the mall on Saturday and Maggie helped me shop for Sees Candy. If you have never tried Sees Candy, I can tell you you are missing something wonderful. I put this picture on facebook and about 15 people responded mentioning their favorite Sees candy. Maggie can't eat it, of course, but she had fun looking at all the beautiful selections.


Sunday the sun was out and it was a perfect day to head to the park. It was a tad chilly when you were out of the sun, but in the sunshine it was juuuuuust right.

She isn't really smiling in any of these, but she gave a HUGE grin when she saw Nurse Janice this morning. She lives for school!

Only about 8 weeks of school left, then we have to come up with more diverse outings.

Big Day

Maggie is about to get on the bus to go to school like most school days. But today is very different. Maggie is going to be the host student for two exchange students from Germany and they are arriving today. Our guests are two girls and they will be in the US for three weeks. They will not attend Mission High, where Maggie goes. Rather they are part of a program at ISA - International Studies Academy in Potrero Hill.

My brother is a teacher at ISA and they were a little short on host families, so we volunteered. The girls, Vanya and Betty, will be here for a week, then the group goes to Los Angeles, then back here for the third week. We are all looking forward to this new adventure.

I did let the organizers know that Maggie is not exactly a typical American High school student and wanted to make sure that the students placed here understood the realities. I certainly don't need to shock a visiting teenager. These girls know what they are walking into, so we don't have to worry about that. I received a couple of emails from Vanya, and it is clear her English is excellent, so we will all get along great, I'm sure.

I am picking them up at the airport and then taking them to their school for a reception. My brother will bring them here after school so they could arrive shortly after Maggie gets back on the bus.

Of course today is also the day that our refrigerator arrives and right now the counter is lined with non perishable items that have been in the fridge since it went out on Saturday. Think about it. What is non perishable that you keep in a refrigerator? Beer, of course. And there's also a bottle of champagne.

 I really hope the new one is in place and all this put away before they get home from school. I would have their first impression to be a kitchen counter lined with alcohol. They were informed about the disabilities, not the alcohol.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Smile!

Finally a decent school picture! It was bound to happen sooner or later!

What a teenager. (She looks like she's wearing makeup)

You should know that there have been years that I sent the pictures back with the question "why would you even print this?"

Truant! (I think.)

Maggie is classified as  "technology dependent." for some of the programs she is on.  That is a reference to the machines she needs to stay alive. I cannot argue with that; she is technology dependent, but so am I and so is everyone I know. Granted the technology I depend upon doesn't keep me alive, but it certainly adds to my quality of life.  Computers, smart phones, cable television even the washer and dryer are very helpful. When all of these things work as they should, it is a great thing. When they don't work it it frustrating and inconvenient.

The best way to have everything work as is should is to keep some human intellect in the mix. When technology works on its own with no one THINKING about it it can be scary. and very annoying. Stocks automatically set to sell at a certain point sent the financial world into a tizzy a few years ago. No one could stop it. If that same program had a "kill switch" that someone could throw to halt the destruction, a lot of grief would have been avoided. Circumstances are fluid and reactions cannot always be automatic.

Maggie's school uses automatic telephone calls to relay information to parents. Sometimes these calls are for everyone (e.g PTA meeting tomorrows) and sometimes they are specific to an individual student. We have been getting calls about a problem with Maggie for a few days now. I suppose that would be fine if the problem really existed. The calls I have been getting say this:

 We are calling to advise that your child ...MARY... was marked absent from one or more classes today. If this is not an excused absence you will be contacted by a truancy officer."


I ignored the first one figuring it must be an error, but then I received another one today. I looked at Maggie in her wheelchair that she cannot push on her own and said, "Listen, Missy, you better not be cutting classes. Are you hanging out in the Mission District sneaking cigarettes?" Maggie thought that was hilarious. We had to turn on some of the technology she is so dependent on just to keep her breathing

Perhaps the tiniest bit of human intervention is required here. Maggie arrives in the morning in her wheelchair.. She needs adults to do everything for her. She could not cut class if she wanted. to. Nonetheless, there is a possibility of a truancy officer knocking on my door. It's hard to imagine they even HAVE truancy officers in this time of huge budget crises, but that's the threat. All I can say is I pity THAT guy if that actually happens. He will try to question Maggie and she will tell him jokes on her dynavox.

Apparently this is happening because Maggie is enrolled in a P.E. class that starts before her bus arrives at school. Technically speaking, she is missing a class. But in the world of living, breathing THINKING human beings, it all makes sense. It's just difficult to explain that to the robotic phone voice.  They are working to fix that today and the phone calls should stop.

I know it's not fair. I want Maggie to be treated just like everybody else when she can, but to have her circumstances acknowledged when it's necessary. That's a fine line that can be difficult for people. It's not that hard, it requires just a little common sense and some good old fashioned human intellect.

All I know for sure is this. She cuts ONE MORE CLASS and she is grounded for life.

Laying in supplies

First week of school and so much to do. I do enjoy the free hours while Maggie is in school, those were in very short supply all summer. However, I am trying to gt myself back into the morning routine. Still lots to do before she gets out of here every morning and I haven't found my rhythm yet. In fact as I started to write this I realized I didn't give Maggie a supplemental feeding this morning. Sheesh! I sent my kid to school without breakfast.

The schedule is different this year. The bus is coming later in the morning and returning a bit later in the afternoon. I never fed her before school before because the night feeds were just turned off. Now with the extra 30 minutes, there is too long of a time between the end of the night feeding and her first feeding at school. Uhhhh. No wonder she looked a little blah this morning. She was hungry. There goes mother of the year. Slipped through my fingers in August!

The first day was all about gathering the supplies she needed for school. This is like the opposite of a squirrel storing up for the winter. Instead of a little bit everyday, we had to get all her supplies set up so that the nurse at school has everything she needs. I'm not talking pencils and notebooks either. I had to gather a stash of her food, tubes, diapers and all pertinent accoutrement for those, braces, equipment etc. Maggie sat in the driveway and laughed as I carried out bag after bag of things to send to school.

For every morning the rest of the week I ran up and down the stairs getting this or that  supply that we left out on day 1. Now that it's Friday I think everything is at school where it belongs.

Maybe now I will remember to feed her.

Forest, meet trees.

"Fall" Semester and Family,

The first day of school went swimmingly. It was great to get back in the swing of things. Oh, and Maggie had fun too!

Maggie has a new teacher this year, Mr. G, and her boyfriend Juan has moved up to the next class, but other than that everything will be the same for her. She dozed a bit during the school day, but was beyond excited when she got home. We will have to work on that schedule.

Part of her tiredness yesterday stemmed from a family gathering we had on Sunday evening. Maggie's cousin Casey was in town from Denver. We haven't seen her in three or four years, so we rounded up as many family members as we could and had dinner. Of course not everyone could make it. Some people were away or working or otherwise engaged, but that doesn't matter.One nice thing about my family, we can fill a room no matter how many people are unavailable.  I believe there were 14 people here and it was an energetic gathering. Here's a random sample. Casey with one aunt,( me) one uncle and Grandma.

        Maggie and Casey were "Kissin cousins"

The party broke up pretty early because folks had to travel home and it was Sunday night. Monday morning comes early.My brother Pat and his wife Julie both teach high school in the SFUSD, so it was a school night

for all three of these hooligans.

Finally in what I hope was not a metaphor for the new school year, I had a less than graceful face plant yesterday in the middle of an intersection. A divot in the roadway turned my ankle and try as I would to keep my balance I went down like a lump. I'm certain it was highly comical for anyone watching. If I was 17 and did that I would have died of embarrassment, but physically I would have been no worse for the wear. Instead at my advanced age I could not care less about the embarrassment factor, but I ache all over. Another reason aging is not for the young.

Have a great day out there. Look three ways before crossing the streets - two ways for traffic and one for potholes!

Just Maggie

Every once in a while I get a glimpse of what life with Maggie might have been like if she wasn't who she is. I mean if she was typically developing and healthy. I don't look for these glimpses and I'm always surprised when I get one. They come from nowhere. And they make me both happy and sad at the same time. 

It happens frequently when I see my neighbor Daniella.  She is finishing her junior year in high school, she is on the volleyball team, goes out with boys and drives the family car. She is tall and kind and pretty. She has been my neighbor since she was born just five weeks after Maggie was. Her mom and I were pregnant together. 


Sometimes when I see her hopping into a car with her friends or leaving for school I think. And I wonder. She and Maggie would have grown up together and either have been close friends or simply tolerated each other. Don't get me wrong. Daniella is lovely. she always greets Maggie and is very sweet, but they are not peers. She is living Maggie's other life, the one way back in my imagination that only gets dusted off periodically. 

I had another one of those moments today when I saw Maggie's class project for the end of the year. All the kids did one and I'm not even certain how it was done. But I love this picture, drawing or whatever it is. It looks like a typical kid. There's no trach, no wheelchair, no equipment of any kind. Those things have come to be such a part of Maggie that I don't even see them anymore. But I noticed immediately when they were absent. And it made me both happy and sad at the same time..  .

 

I scanned it the best I could but it wouldn't fit. The frame has descriptive words about Maggie all around it, Sassy, happy, cheerful, shy (?), loves music, etc.  I think I'm going to hang this one in my room.

 

 It's just Maggie - stripped down to her personhood. 

 

She's still cool.

 

Stretched to the Breaking Point

The title doesn't refer to my psyche, but to Maggie's chair. Her wheelchair is once again in need of attention and repair. She can use it, but it is tattered and sad.  The parts were ordered eons ago and we are waiting and waiting and waiting for them to be delivered and installed. In this day of overnight delivery and immediate attention, it blows my mind that these parts take three months to get.

The most unsightly part of the repair is the fabric behind Maggie’s legs that is designed to help Maggie  keep her feet in place. This neoprene fabric  is stretched behind Maggie’s legs to keep her feet from dangling in space.  It is supposed to look something like this.  

Maggie tends to use it to rest her feet and the tone in her legs is so high that she exerts constant pressure on this fabric. Surprise surprise, she wore a hole in it.  The new one was ordered llong ago and they forgot about it. It was ordered again on the 1^st of March and now, 64 days later, we still don’t have it. That little hole got bigger and bigger. We turned the neoprene upside down so that the pressure would be on another part of the fabric, but that seemed only to exacerbate the problem. Now there is a gaping  hole all the way across the cihair. Maggie sticks her feet through it and looks like an amputee. They sent me this picture from school today.

We could just take it off, but even in its tattered state it is providing some protection for Maggie. When she sticks her legs through she is not keeping her feet in the right position, but the fabric is still between her legs and the footplates of the chair. Without the fabric, her legs would be behind the metal footplates and she would injure her shins on those sharp metal edges.  

But she looks like someone down on their luck hustling for handouts on the street.

Hmmm. Maybe she could earn her allowance.

Or she could contribute to her shoe fund.  A lot of shoes drop through that black hole.   The shoe story will follow.

Sweet Melissa

Nurse Janice called from school yesterday. Generally these calls are to discuss some troubling symptoms. Janice and I put our heads together to figure things out. Yesterday, though, Maggie was physically fine; her behavior, however was something else again. She was scratching, pulling at her trach and disrupting the class.

It seems Melissa went to school yesterday instead of Maggie. Melissa is Maggie's evil twin and she shows up every now and then. She's a pain in the rear.

I asked Janice to put the phone next to Maggie/Melissa's ear.She did and I put on my best mom voice and told her to cut the crap. Of course she can't respond to me verbally so I have no ideas how she's reacting. I just keep on lecture mode - it's second nature to me after 23 years of raising kids - and told her she would "NOT BE HAPPY if I had to come to school to get your. Do you understand me young lady?" Janice came back on the phone and said Maggie just signed "yes" with a very serious look on her face.

It's nice to know I've still got it.

When she came home from school Maggie slept for over 2 hours. Hopefully Melissa made an appearance because Maggie was so tired. We will see today. This morning Maggie had a bit of an evil grin as Janice and I discussed her behavior while we waited for the bus.

Maggie got ON the bus. Hopefully Melissa didn't get off

.

Sweet 16

Mr. David, one of the paraprofessionals in Maggie's classroom recently traveled to Austin, Texas  to participate in South by Southwest, the music extravaganza. He kindly brought back a gift for everyone in the class from someplace enroute to or from Austin. Very thoughtful and very generous.  Maggie got this shirt from Arizona.

The timing is perfect. Two of Maggie's cousins are University of Arizona folk, Pete already graduated and Leigh is a sophomore. Tonight Arizona faces Duke in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Maggie is all ready.  She has another cousin who went to UCONN and they are in this round too, but, alas, Connecticut is not between here and Austin. (Besides, they're playing San Diego State......who wouldn't love to see the mighty huskies fall to SDSU ... sorry Kevin)

Thanks Mr. David. And GO Wildcats!

Tax dollars

Maggie and I had a day about town today. We went to see Steve in his office and then went to see Tim at work at Mr. Pickle and bought a sandwich.  We came back, regrouped, took care of business, and then went for a walk in Golden Gate park. It was a beautiful day here, but its's a day Maggie should have been at school.

There was no school today because it was a furlough day. San Francisco schools are closed for a few days here and there this year to help meet the budget shortfalls. That means the school nurse did not arrive this morning, the bus driver did not pull up, there was no one at school to help kids off the buses, no teachers, no janitors and no administration. All those people had an unpaid day off and all the students missed school. I believe that is an example of your tax dollars NOT at work.

.  I am glad that it was the kind of day one could enjoy outside. If you're not getting educated, or being paid to educate, a walk in the park can be educational and it's always free.

Lucky Bunny

Maggie is off school today because it's Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choy! The Year of the Rabbit begins.We heard lots of fire crackers yesterday afternoon and last night. All is quiet today for the holiday but the celebration continues for a couple of weeks. The big parade is at the end or the celebration on the 19th.

 I have a Chinese Zodiac chart right here and according to this the Rabbit is the luckiest of all signs. It says "You are also talented and articulate. Affectionate, yet shy, you seek peace throughout your life. Marry a sheep or Boar. Your opposite is the Cock" So if you were born in 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987 1999 or 2011, This is your year.

Chinese Zodiac is based on the year of your birth, because it is thought that is the primary factor in determining personality traits, physical and mental attributes, and degree of success and happiness throughout your lifetime.  In this house we have a Boar,(Steve), a Monkey (me), a Dragon (Eddie) a Horse (Tim) and a dog (Maggie).

Do you know your sign?  Give me your birth year and I will tell you.

Maggie is a dog, which means "loyal and honest, you work well with others. Generous yet stubborn and often selfish. Look to the horse or tiger. Watch out for dragons" (Eddie)

In preparation for New Year, Maggie and her classmates used the fish print they make to make their own zodiac sign picture. Here's Maggies and I'm reposting the fish picture too. That fish is the background.

Enjoy your lucky year of the Rabbit!

Fish Face

Maggie and her classmates had an art project making fish prints. I haven't seen the results yet, but the picture the teacher took of the process is hilarious. All Maggie had to say was that the fish was stinky. It looks like a stare down

Energy Crises

I have tremendous respect for pneumonia. The illness manifests in many different ways, but it always kicks your butt.   Maggie is recovering from her latest bout with this bug now and she is doing fine. Until she isn’t. It just sort of sneaks up on her and saps her energy. She will be mid sentence  with  her talker and suddenly fall sound asleep.

 Pneumonia ordinarily means  horrible coughing and a high fever.  In her countless past episodes of pneumonia, I’ve certainly seen both more than once.  She has neither this time around. Her chronic cough is a little worse than usual, but not terrible.  Her usually low temp is more in the normal range, but nothing I would call a fever.  This time it is all issues related to energy and stamina.

Maggie was exhausted for a week before I took her to the doctor on Monday. I assumed she was adjusting back to a full school day after two weeks of Christmas vacation. By last weekend she was needing a little oxygen during the day, which is unusual. That little bit would reenergize her for  several hours.  I sent her to school Monday warning the nurse that something was off.  After a couple of hours the nurse called to tell me that she needed oxygen constantly or her oxygen levels would drop.

That was my tipping point. If she needs that much help it had to be a pneumonia. It was time for the doctor.

Now we are on day 5 of antibiotics and Maggie is much better. I tried to send her to school yesterday but she didn’t last more than a couple of hours.  She’s a wee bit stronger today, though and she went back to school this morning. She has already lasted longer than she did yesterday. Now theres a  three day weekend, so she should be in good fighting shape by Tuesday.

Then we’ll get back to the wind sprints.  

Back to School

Today is the first day of school of 2011.

   

I remember trying to get the boys moving on school days. It was not an easy task. The first day back after vacation was nearly impossible. There was cajoling, and pleading coming from me and sloth-like grunts coming from them. I used my cheeriest (and most annoying) voice to wake them while turning on the light and singing a song. If a pillow wasn’t thrown at me, it was pulled over their tousled heads. When they did come downstairs, it was generally with about two minutes to spare.  They would eat a banana or a piece of toast as they left the house. Communication from either of them was rare. My singsong “have a nice day guys” was generally met with a tilt of the head or a single eyebrow raise.  

 Not Maggie; she was chomping at the bit to get going.

After two weeks of partying, and hanging out together every morning, we had to get up, face the morning routine and be outside for the bus at 7:10. Getting up at that hour is not a huge change, it’s not like we slept in during vacation. The nurse leaves at 7AM every morning so I was always up. Maggie was awake almost every morning, but not ready for her day.  Being “up” and being “ready” are two very different things. During vacation I got up at 6:55 and padded downstairs half asleep. In order to actually be ready, I have to be up around 6:15, load up the chair with the equipment and get Maggie downstairs.  When that alarm went off earlier than it has for the past two weeks, I really felt it.

 When I came into Maggie’s room this morning she was already in her chair waiting to go. Lucy had done almost all of the preparation and we actually had a few minutes. Maggie was jumping around in her chair, anxious to start down in the elevator. I had to laugh, even thought I wasn’t surprised. Last night Maggie kept using her talker to say, “Mom. Tomorrow is Monday I go to school.” When I said, “that’s right, are you excited to go back to school?” Maggie would waive her arm as though someone had plugged her in.

Now Maggie is at school. The house is quiet, there is not pop music playing. I can put away the Christmas decorations and get some work done. Or, for the first time in two weeks, do nothing at all.

(raises one eyebrow) That actually sounds good. I think there's a newspaper around here somewhere.

I said in the last post that Maggie was likely recovered from her weekend and her strange sleep pattern caused by the heat. However, after I received this picture from the teacher showing Maggie sound asleep while she "works" at the computer, I'm thinking maybe not.

The fog is supposed to roll in tomorrow, so she will be right as rain by the weekend.

Hot-tober

It is hot here. I believe the temperature hit 90 in San Francisco yesterday and it will be about 85 today. Whew! As you might imagine, Maggie and the high temperatures are not compatible. She wilts like a flower and we need to keep the fluids moving for her. She was tired before the day started and the heat really did not help.

Maggie may have had too much weekend. The weather was nice over the weekend. Not hot by normal standards, but a little warm for Maggie. We went to the Columbus Day Parade in North Beach parade on Sunday and  Maggie posed with some of the Knights of Columbus in full regalia.

We also stopped in at the Bazaar at Sts. Peter and Paul. Maggie posed We had to visit the miniature golf course that Steve and Rob made when the boys were in school there 7 or 8 years ago.We were delighted to see that there was a sign calling it the McDonald/Pinotti golf course.  It is a classic, all the "holes" are San Francisco landmarks. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and a Cable Car in this picture if you look closely. It remains a huge hit with the little kids.

I tried to keep Maggie in the shade while we were there, but the bazaar is in the open school yeard and there is not shade to be found. We didn't stay too long down there because Maggie just doesn't have the stamina and the excitement of the bazaar, and the parade and all the people along with the warm weather is just too much.. Besides, we had guests and were planning a big dinner. She and I came home after about 90 minutes and busied ourselves here.

Monday was a holiday from school and Maggie slept for four hours in the afternoon, which is very unusual for her, but given all the excitement of the weekend, not terribly surprising. Of course all that sleep during the day meant very little at night. She awoke at 2:30AM for the day. Great. With the lack of sleep and the heat she spent most of yesterday in a haze. She took a shorter nap yesterday and slept well last night, so hopefully we are back on track.  

This morning Maggie was in a good mood waiting for the bus with me and Etoy, her night nurse. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago, but here we are waiting for the bus on another beautiful October morning. It's funny, in the past few weeks it is a LOT darker in the morning. It may be 90 degrees, but it's mid October.

Stay cool out there!

Mean Royalty

There is a certain 16-year-old girl in this house with an attitude.  That is very 16, of course, but it really does not seem fair. Noting else about her is age appropriate, but we get the teenage attitude. Great.

Maggie is dong her “Mean Girls” thing lately. Yesterday I would not let her listen to her music because she kicked her nurse a couple of times. That is the third of three things in a row. It seems Mary Margaret is tormenting her classmates as well.

Maggie is the only girl in the class of five. The four boys have varying degrees of disability. Three use wheelchairs, all four use voice output devices to communicate (as does Maggie). A couple of the boys have nursing needs etc etc. These are Maggie’s peers and appropriately so. The five of them really like one another and, in their own way watch out for one another. It is very sweet, until Maggie, aka Lindsay Lohan, mixes it up.

Maggie has figured out how to hit the weakest spot in each of her classmates and use it to her advantage. For example, one of her classmates is exceptionally sensitive. Just as Maggie laughs inappropriately at times, this guy will cry.  Last week Maggie was bored and started pulling on her trach ties. This is guaranteed to bring everyone running. She yanks on the ties so hard she has broken countless trach tubes. It is a big deal when the trach falls out (or breaks) and everything has to come to a stop to deal with it.  Maggie was yanking away and her classmate started “yelling” for her to stop. He was worried she would hurt herself or break the trach. 

Maggie knew she was upsetting him and pulled harder laughing all the way. He started to cry and the poor guy had to be taken for a walk out of the room to calm down. Maggie was very pleased. No one else was.

Later in the week, Maggie was the only one who managed to earn enough points to listen to her music on Friday. Rather than share it with her classmates, she decided she wanted headphones so none of them could hear the music.  Then she vocalized with all her might whenever a new song started. Of course, they could not hear the music, but they could hear her delight.  Mean. Mean. Mean.  I am not sure how she earn points in the class, but I suggested to the nurse maybe it is time to take points away if she does something mean or unkind. 

She has to learn this is no way to behave. There will be consequences. We will fix this.

Maggie may be acting like a princess and treating her classmates like her subjects. If she is the princess, that makes me the Queen. She does not know whom she’s messing with. Now that Leona Helmsley is no longer with us, I can take the title Queen of Mean.  Bring it, sister.

New School Year

Busy week 'round here. We are a bit short on postings. Or maybe I've just said all there is to say.

Naaaaah!

Maggie is settling in to a new school year. She has a new teacher and new aides (paras) in her classroom, but the classroom, Nurse Janice and most importantly, the kids are the same so adjusting hasn't been too tough. Her new teacher, Ms. Durkash, knows all the kids because she was the inclusion teacher at Mission last year. Even though she's in a new role as Maggie'actual teacher, she's not a new face. Besides, she's fun and upbeat, so I'm sure it will be a great year.

There's another familiar face roaming the hallways of Mission High too. Teacher Joe, Maggie's middle school teacher, moved to Mission High this year! What a bonus for all of us. I popped my head in to visit the other day and saw him in the hallway.  He is teaching another special ed class, but there will be lots of interaction with him. The special ed community at Mission is a very tight knit group.

Maggie is still adjusting to the rigors of the school schedule. Even though we were out and about every day in the summer, school is another thing altogether. Maggie is dressed, in her chair and  and ready to go at 7:00AM. The bus comes about 7:15 and she is gone until 3:00PM. She's exhausted when she gets back.

Some of her behavior is less than desirable too. Her home nurse Fely is sporting a nasty bruise on her arm from Maggie's successful pinching and scratching efforts. It's embarrassing. Maggie really does know better, but it's all in how you handle it.  Fely just tells her over and over to stop, which makes it into a game with Maggie. (especially when Fely's voice gets a higher and higher pitch) Everyone else just stops whatever they're doing and walks away. If Maggie is going to scratch me while I'm trying to feed her, I'm going to stop the feed. If she wants the food and the interaction, she has to stop the behavior. This is a more successful approach, but I cannot convince Fely to use it. Even when she tries to use it, she's still telling Maggie how she has to stop. It cracks Maggie up. That's embarrassing too.  In a perfect world these behaviors would not exist, but I don't live in a perfect world  We all have to be on the same page to deal with them, though, or they are going to get worse instead of better.

Maggie is a manipulative little thing. After she upsets Fely and leaves the bruise, Maggie says on her talker "Fely Love Maggie."  Fely melts and Maggie gives her evil little grin.

Hopefully once she's used to the schedule and not so tired, she won't engage in these bahaviors. Hopefully I'll still have a nurse in the house to help me when that day arrives.