Let Freedom Ring

As of 3pm this afternoon, Alyssa is officially a fourth grader. At 11am this morning, Olivia is officially a kinderkid.

Time flies, doesn’t it?

As I raced downstairs this morning before I’d even showered, Tom was in the kitchen washing dishes. I mumbled a good morning to him as I headed toward the basement stairs. He called out, “Good morning to you too. What are you doing?”

I stopped midway down the stairs and replied, “Olivia wants her bra.”

“Olivia?” he asked with a laugh.

“Yes, Olivia!” I grumbled, trotting the rest of the way down to the laundry room.

Olivia noticed that Alyssa has added a garment to her daily wardrobe and she’s (Olivia) decided that she doesn’t give a damn if she’s only five years old, she’s going to wear a bra too. And that’s that.

So yes, I let her wear her tiny little Barbie sports bra to school this morning under her t-shirt.

Let me state right there, even if it is embarrassing to future A and O…neither of them needs this new garment. Though I am glad this was A’s idea and I didn’t have to approach her in another year or two and bring up the delicate issue of her actually needing it and having her resist the idea.

This past school year has been good for both A and O. Alyssa started the year no longer the ‘new’ kid. She was an old pro at this school, having attended the year before. She was excited about the bus and while she was sad her best friend S didn’t have the same teacher, she was looking forward to lunches and recess with S.

I think not having S in the same class was a good thing for Alyssa. She made new best friends, now she has three. I think a girl can never have too many best friends. Seriously. She realized that while she still adores S, there are other girls she loves being around too. I am thrilled by this.

Olivia…well, she attended school most of the year, only having to stay home with fevers/sniffles/whatever a few times. She made ‘adequate progress’ on most of her IEP goals for the year.

Did she ever get comfortable enough to actually talk to her teachers? Well…no. But she will nod to them if they ask her a direct question. And she will point to pictures to communicate her needs. It’s a start, right? And if I’m in the classroom, she will speak to me, even if others can hear her. So there’s that.

Her speech therapist does report that Olivia got comfortable enough with her to actually talk to her, responding to questions and requests with a loud enough voice that she wasn’t asked to repeat herself.

I’m looking forward to a long, hot summer with lots of days spent at the pool or the lake. I know it’s going to fly, just like the school year did. But that’s life, isn’t it? It always seems like the minutes of each day crawl past while the years fly by.

The coming year will be challenging and fun and exciting, just like the last one was. We’ll face those challenges head on and embrace the excitement.