Thursday, December 20, 2012

Situation

My parents arrived. Mom flew from Tanzania to Colorado and was home long enough to pack her suitcase to fly with dad here. The pass was snowy, but Steve managed to drive it there and back okay. Today he gets to do it again for Andrew and Peter.

Went to hear the twins' Christmas program at the school. I was a tad late. Couldn't find a parking spot anywhere. Finally drove around the block and parked at the pool and hiked through the playground through the snow. As I got close you can imagine my surprise to find Missy out there alone all dressed in her snowsuit. There was a 4th or 5th grade class out on the playground, but more to the other side.

I asked her what she was doing out there and why she wasn't singing in the program....

She just thought it was recess time and since she had performed the program in the morning for the kids she thought she was done. I had a hard time convincing her to follow me into the school and to the gym. I was confused. I was so sure the program was at 2 PM.  Low and behold they were at least 10 minutes into the program. James was up there doing his part. I pulled her snowsuit off and nudged her forward in between songs. I saw her teacher come around looking for her. When she saw me push her forward the teacher turned back.

The realization that Missy was just going about her usual routine and no one had noticed and she had fallen through the cracks hit me pretty hard. I could not quite figure out what the program the kids were doing was all about until about half way thru... because I was frightened by the prospects of what could have happened. This is a very vulnerable child.

I was stuck in this gym with this huge crowd with no way to escape so I fought my composure the whole time. Someone came and asked if the twins were taking the bus home or going with me. I told her what had happened and she said she would take it to the principle and the special ed director.  I know they will have to figure out something.  This kid is pulled from one person to another all day and no one person is watching out for her all day. She's not smart enough to take care of herself if the routine changes in the least. I don't blame any one person. I could totally see how this could happen. Unless they come up with a good solution to this issue, I will be asking them to retain her next year for sure if there is any hope she could stay in the regular class more.

I kept her home today. It's early release, party day.... and they are building gingerbread houses. I could just see this kid eating 5 pounds of candy before anybody noticed. ha!


8 comments:

FosterCareQandA said...

Wow, that's scary ... and sad for her that she's so alone there without any one person really looking out for her.

Vertical Mom said...

Good LORD! Praise God you were late and had to walk that way! Oh my heavens.

La Tea Dah said...

See if she qualifies for a full-time teacher's assistant/aid who will stay with her throughout the day. Washington state does this for kids that qualify. I would be scared too! The teacher shouldn't have "lost" Missy, and even though she was busy, it was her responsibility to "have" all her kiddos! Speak up and don't feel guilty about it! Yikes!

Melissa said...

Sounds like she needs an ed tech. A person assigned solely to her for the entire day every day.

Oldqueen44 said...

That is scary. I hoe the issue is resolved with a helpful plan. Even if there was some kind of buddy system to help get her from one place to another.

How fun to be seeing family.

Merry Christmas.

rachel said...

Wow! That would be soo scarey! Hope you get that resolved.

acceptance with joy said...

Thanks for all the comments. I trust the school will have a good solution. This was totally an oversight and no one anticipated anything like this. Missy has appeared to be dependent on people directing her, but truth is SHE has a very strong sense of routine (Might I be at fault? hehe!) and rarely LISTENS to anyone (that part I won't take the blame for :-( ). You can tell her what is next and if it is the same as every other time all is well. BUT if it is different than last time be sure to follow up cause it ain't gonna happen.

Laurel said...

Wow! How scary!

I can't imagine if you had parked somewhere else . . . gone into the performance . . . only to discover that she was missing. Yikes!

There really is no excuse for a child to be able to just wander off without being noticed. :(

Good call on keeping her home today. She does not need 5 pounds of candy. :)

Hope your Christmas is BLESSED!

Laurel