IEP Day for Missy

{IEP meetings are meetings at the school to discuss a child's  

Individual Educational Plan - for those who are not aware.}

There's no earth shattering news or revelations or fancy new plans....  I believe everybody is doing the best they can. Everyone is frustrated at their limited amount of time with the kiddo and the slow progress being made for lack of time. Her needs are overwhelming. Splintering was the word that came up over and over. Everyone is working on their sliver and no one gets the whole picture. People had hoped for more goals met this time around but had to be satisfied with reality. The poor kid has a lot to cope with.

I was late. I almost didn't get there and when I did I struggled to focus. My eyeballs were so dry and a grey fog enveloped my brain. The florescent lights made me half blind and I stifled yawns as I yearned to crawl under the table and go to sleep. I was interested but I fought with my body to be fully present and to assimilate all the information being presented. I pretended to follow along on the printed pages they handed me.  I couldn't read it for anything. The writing was too small and the letters were all jumping around. What's with that, anyway?!

One thing stood out and it stood only only because I have felt sort of criticized by a certain group of people with kiddos like mine who have voiced that I am expecting way too much from the twins.  Apparently our morning routine is way beyond what most families expect of their children.  . . I had no idea. I thought all kids had to get out of bed and get dressed and pull the blankets up and throw their laundry in the basket. Combing hair and brushing teeth are not optional, are they? I suppose feeding the dog, or taking water to the chickens before breakfast might be out of the ordinary?  Our struggle to get out the door to catch the bus has diminished incredibly with our checklist... but before we solved that problem we tried a lot of things to make things run smooth. One thing we noticed is that it matters not how much time you give the children they will USE ALL OF IT and be pressed to be out the door in time. It was kind of funny today to hear all teachers today expressing that same reality. If they give the child 5 minutes to get her pencil out and get started on a lesson she uses every second of that 5 minutes flipping through her desk to get her pencil out. If they give her ten it takes ten minutes... There is no sense of the passage of time. It wouldn't matter if she's given a half hour or two minutes it's all the same.  So, does that mean you lower the bar? Convince me.

We've had calm the last few days.