Turning a Corner
Those of you that have followed our story over the last decade will know all about our children, the start they had in life, and the struggles they continue to face on a daily basis. They try so hard in so many ways, and find all sorts of things more difficult than most. It is entirely to their credit that most people have no idea.
If you spend enough time with them you start to notice the signs that all is perhaps not what it should bethat there are huge holes in their make-up that they expertly cover up. We are in the business of filling those holes as fast as we possibly can, but sometimes it seems like a steeper and steeper hill to climb as their peers accelerate away from them.
That's why today was special.
Perhaps the most affected by her early years is our youngest. She has had a “statement” at School since she was in infants, and has received exceptional assistance from the most committed, gifted teachers I have ever known.
She just wants to be like everybody else, but over the last year or so she had come to realise that actuallyno, she wasn'tshe had an ever-present classroom assistant, and often left the classroom for entirely different lessons elsewhere in the school.
Well today the hundreds of hours spent playing catch-up with all manner of experimental teaching methods started to pay off. A certain little girl wrote a story for a classroom exercisea full page of hand-writing. Her teacher took one look at it and sent her to see the head of year, who sent her to see the head-teacher.
I called home just before leaving work this evening to see if I needed to pick anything up en-route.“Hi”“Hi Dad” (our youngest answers the phone)“Is Mum around?”“I got stickersgave me a Minion sticker on Facebook!” (then she finally took a breath)“Well done!”“You want Mum?”“Yes please” and the conversation was over. Just like that. Of course when I did finally get in, I encountered the proudest little girl this side of Chickensaw Countywith school uniform covered in achievement stickers. I also encountered an older sister who was initially also bursting with pride, until an implosion of volcanic proportions later in the evening when jealousy began to rear it's inevitable head. Another story for another day perhaps.
Today thoughtoday was all about our youngest, and perhaps the turning of a corner. A corner that had been fought for over months and years.