Today was a big day for B'Elanna. It is her FIRST Halloween... she dressed as a Ladybug!! It is also her last day at Pass It On Learning and she started at Kid Central. This is the only preschool in Missoula that the Military Child Care will substidize. This school is for 2.5 - 6 year old kids and normally they do not take kids in diapers (or they must be in the Potty-training stage), but they decided they would accept B'Elanna because of her "special circumstances" of recently adopted AND her medical condition are causing her not to be ready for potty training right now.
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| Ride'em Doggy!! |
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| Will you FINISH already!! |
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| Still won't smile when anyone but Mommy is holding the camera!! YEAH!! |
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| Horrible Picture... but the only one of the two of us. |
B'Elanna and I went trick-o-treating at a local Retirement Center with her new Preschool, and then we went back to the school and had lunch with her new class. Then the class was going down for naptime, so we left and I brought her home for her nap. During that time, I had time to reflect on our time at the school... before we go back tomorrow. Little things just kept needling me:
- All kids, no matter how young pass the standard size platters and bowls of food and serve THEMSELVES... including pouring their own glasses of milk from Pitchers. I know a lot of people are thinking... No big deal, it's good for kids to learn things, but B'Elanna has already had to learn/do TOO MANY adult things.... it is her chance turn to be a child. So, needless to say, this "server yourself" policy just does not sit right with me. I DO NOT think that a 2.5 year old should be responsible for dishing up thier own food and drinks... this is an ADULTS job.
- It was bugging me enough that I went back to the school and talked to the director. She said that according to the CACFP rules that they fall under the children are supposed to be learning to be self-sufficient while in their programs. I told the director... that phrase is upto interpretation. I interpret that to mean, a 2.5-year-old can be served their food, but be encouraged to eat with a fork and spoon and drink from a non-lidded cup. I told her, B'Elanna was already parentified in China and I DO NOT want anymore of her childhood taken from her and she needs to learn that ADULTS are here to care for HER not that she needs to RELY on herself at this stage. I told the director that I was sorry for being "That Parent" this early, but this is EXTREMELY important to me. She told me she works as an advocate for some children in the Missoula community, and she understands that I am B'Elanna's ADVOCATE. I told her EXACTLY and I didn't want to wait 6-months to find out this isn't working... if this can't be accomodated, then I wanted them to sign the form for Military Child Care telling them they couldn't accept B'Elanna and she can go back to her previous Preschool without an interuption. The director said, she thinks this can be accomodated... that she would take B'Elanna for a diaper change while the other kids are dishing up and then when she comes back to the room her plate/cup would already be ready for her. I really like this director... by the time she was done talking with me... I had really calmed down!!
- The other thing I mentioned to her was that I had noticed that A LOT of the kids in the school have Lazy Speech and I would like the Teachers to please correct B'Elanna if she starts slipping into those patterns. I also let her know that I am having B'Elanna evaluated at the end of the month at the Children's Development Center and am hoping she will be referred for Speech Therapy!
Tonight, B'Elanna loved greeting everyone at the door for Halloween. Here is a video I took of the phrases she kept saying to EVERYONE...
She is saying "Hap Baleen" for Halloween. I think it is so CUTE for a kid that just started saying the word TODAY!!
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