Back in May I registered Eden for preschool at All Saints Lutheran Preschool which came highly recommended from quite a few families in our ward at church. Her class is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30 which is not too long, but just enough time to get her the speech practice and social interaction she most desperately needs!
I knew though that because of the trach, Eden wouldn't be able to go to preschool unless I was there, or a nurse was there with her everyday. Over the summer months we worked with a couple different Home Health Agencies to find a nurse willing to work part time. We had someone lined up in July and I had her start coming to get to know Eden a little before school started. Unfortunately she quit just a couple weeks before school started so the search for a part time nurse started all over again. We were beginning to lose hope but the week school started we were contacted by a new nurse who would be able to start in September. We had an interview with her and Eden really warmed up to her quickly which was good. So even though she couldn't start until September, I wanted to get Eden into school as soon as possible, so this past week (with me) she was able to start school.
For a while now I've been talking to her about school and telling her what it would be like and trying to help her get excited about going. One of the things that seemed to make it exciting was getting a backpack. She of course chose a princess one, and I think it's cute and funny that the backpack is almost as big as she is.
For the most part, she seemed to think going to school sounded like a good idea, but she would always say, "and mommy go too". I wanted to try to stay outside the classroom, and just be there in case she needed suctioning but as soon as I tried to leave her she started crying and needed to be suctioned so I just had to come back in. So for the first day I just stayed in the classroom, always within sight and she did pretty good. On Thursday she was nervous to go back, but when they went outside for "recess" I stayed inside while she went with her teacher and class. She was super nervous at first but she did really well on her own.
It actually ended up being really fun for me to be in the classroom with her though so I could see the other kids and how they all interacted with each other. There are six kids in the class, including Eden, and they are all really well behaved and nice kids. One girl kept taking Eden's hand and trying to get her to go "discover things" and it would always make Eden really nervous, but this little girl isn't giving up on Eden which I'm so grateful for. I think they will be good friends as the school year goes on which makes me happy.
Eden's teacher, Ms. Courtney, is young, fun and so nice and sweet to Eden. When I separated from Eden on Thursday she started to panic a little bit, but her teacher helped her feel comfortable really quickly so I'm glad to see Eden trusts her already.
Because it's a Lutheran preschool, they pray before the kids have snack and before they go home for the day. On our first day there, the teacher was preparing the kids for snack and told them to clasp their hands together and get ready for prayer. Eden obediently bowed her head and folded her arms for the prayer and the teacher started singing a cute little prayer song. When she said "Amen" Eden looked over at me with the funniest expression on her face which I can only imagine she must have been thinking, "did she just sing a song for the prayer?" The expression on her face was so priceless, I'm glad I was there for that moment. On Thursday, after the song prayer, Eden just looked at me and smiled. So cute.
I'm really excited about this opportunity for Eden to get some good, structured social interaction. I hope that through this school year she will gain more confidence and overcome her fear of playing with other kids! :)
