Letting Amelia be herself

For Christmas I wanted to get something special for Ms. Rachel, Amelia’s trainer at LearningRx.  After conferring with my friend who owns Too Dark Motorsports, we came up with an idea.  She made an ornament that said “Ms. Rachel-Thank you for being you and letting me be me”.  Amelia wrote her name on the back and we presented it to Ms. Rachel along with a gift card.

You see, when I was considering putting Amelia into the LearningRx program one of my fears was that she would lose that big personality.  Sometimes that big personality can make me crazy, the drama from that child wears me out.  But her personality is what makes her.  The blunt comments, funny things she says, her big imagination and doing the voices of Mickey Mouse and all of his friends—I love that so much!  There have been a few embarrassing things said and done, but what child doesn’t do that to their parents?

Someone once told me that we all have to conform…OUCH!  That one gets me, I’ve never been one to really conform.  I can get along with most anyone and can smooze the best of them, but conform I do not.  While sometimes it can be painful, I would be so miserable conforming to what people seem to want me to be.  I want Amelia to be strong and true to herself as well, so anything I can do to let her be herself I encourage.

That’s one reason I love Ms. Rachel; not only does she let Amelia be Amelia but she loves exactly who she is!  She just giggles at Amelia’s nuances, she will usually call Ms. Ali into the room so she can hear what Amelia did.  Ms. Ali is the person that assigns the trainers to students and she’s become quite fond of Amelia as well.  They both do so much for my heart, to hear them say they love being with Amelia and how they tell friends and family of her latest silliness. 

I know that once Amelia starts kindergarten at school things may not be as easy but for now having these ladies be part of our lives is a blessing. 

Thank you Ms. Rachel and Ms. Ali for bringing a smile to my face and joy to Amelia every week!

A teacher we all want for our kids

As I read all of the stories from Connecticut and the horrible shooting at an elementary school, one thing comes to mind:  I pray so hard for Amelia to have incredible teachers like some of these kids had.

From my first post you can see that I’ve seen some of the “bad apples” of teachers, I’ve heard of those that always complain about Amelia not being still, talking too much, but then I hear about a teacher protecting her class from a murderous monster telling them “I need you to know that I love you”.  Wow!  In what had to be the most terrifying moment she knew the words that would comfort those babies.  She became a parental figure when their parents couldn’t be there and gave them the utmost love and respect, disregarding her own welfare.

That’s the teacher that I want for Amelia, I know they are out there.  Sure, we all have bad days and working with all of those kids has to be the hardest and most unrewarding job there is, I know I couldn’t do it.  But Kaitlin Roig chose this career path and gives it all she can, she loves “her kids” and teaches them the most important lesson we can hope for:  love.

I am saddened by the loss of those sweet children and wonderful staff and I hope that Ms. Roig can go back to teaching, she gives us parents hope.  Hope that in the worst of circumstances when we can’t be there to hold them that they are loved.

Thank you to those teachers for that hope.

A little bit of freedom

Sometimes as a Mom it’s tough to let go, to let your child do something without you, especially when they are fussing about it.  But the last few weeks had been pretty tough at LearningRx, she wanted me in the room with her and just wouldn’t behave.  I needed a break and to read a book or something while she was in her class but there was none of that.  So after speaking with her teacher Rachel and the director Donesa, we decided that I needed to leave her there.  I would tell her I was going to the store and would bring back an Icee for her, it would give them a little more control and give me a break.  It was not going over well with her when we told her, she said I couldn’t leave but I did and walked to the store.  When I came back I watched her on the video camera and she was having a blast, doing exactly what Ms. Rachel told her and learning!  The last few sessions I’ve done this over again and it’s only gotten better, Wednesday was her best session yet. I may have to buy stock in Icee though.

I’ve learned that I have to break OUR separation anxiety and she can grow more, I know she’s in good hands and if I have any question there’s a video camera to check.  I’ve said it before, LearningRx is teaching Amelia skills to deal with life and is teaching me how to be a better Mom.

Now, if I could just bring myself to leave her with a babysitter again…