Preschools & Down Syndrome

Jaden's New Bike

First off, We've started actively seeking out a Pre-School for our little genius Jaden! Something I never thought I would be quite ready for, but I'm happy to say I am! The most important thing is, Jaden is ready! We've noticed that he gets quite bored now, and loves constant activities and structure. He seems to get bored and restless and whinny much more easily now, because he is looking for more and more to stimulate him! It's very funny because he will wander through the whole house, first with all his toys down stairs, then the piano, then the bike, then the play set outside, then the ball and bat, then upstairs to his books and toys upstairs, onto his drum set, then his sister's room to sing on her karaoke machine then back downstairs. That's a good hour or two for play, but after that, he wants more, different, structured activities.

And I don't know about all of you, But I work from home, and the Word "work" has slowly faded out of the equation now. So, I am very excited to have him be part of a group, playing, interacting, learning, structured, etc. We checked out 4 different schools Friday.

The part that I was really dreading was informing the people at these schools about his "diagnosis" and having them tell me "We're not prepared to handle kids with 'special needs'." Or something similar sounding. I was all prepared to call in our local Advocates from our Support Organizations to try and help me get Jaden into our school of choice. I was all prepared for any fight I was going to have. And low and behold, I was certainly in for a surprise. Not only did NONE of the schools flinch at the fact that Jaden had DS, they practically embraced it! Every single school responded to my inquiry about how they handled kids with "special needs", with "All Kids have Special Needs, Trust Us!"

Mother's Day Breakfast!

It was so eye opening, and astonishing to me. Every school was so warm and loving with Jaden, every teacher that saw him wanted to hug him and give him attention. Teachers from other classes who saw us walking by, would come out to greet Jaden. I was so pleasantly surprised, all my fears and doubts immediately washed away. Not only would every school love to have Jaden, they all said that he would fit in beautifully! Of course every class room we went into, he jumped right in, playing with the other kids immediately, joining in, saying hi, saying bye bye. I was so proud of him. Now that he can eat by himself, and he's in the middle of potty training, I feel very confident that he will just blossom in school!

It's at times like this when I feel like running back to the Hospital where he was born, when the doctor's delivered news of his diagnosis like they were giving a Eulogy, to tell them, "It's Ok, It's Alright, The World Loves Jaden, He Loves the World, He is going to have a Beautiful Life!"

And He really is!