First Day of School

Mikayla started school on Wednesday and she was soooo excited! She was ready to go in no time and even had her hair flat ironed especially for the day. She went to school hopeful of making new friends and a great new year. It was weird to send her off to school and not have the boys around. We did the traditional first day of school pictures, but the boys were missing. We will do those on Monday!

Oh and she couldn't have a first day of school picture without our new family pets. Meet Alex and Addy. They are actually the boys but she is taking care of them while they are away.

She came home from her first day very excited. When I asked her if she made any friends she said "Yep, one" After asking a few questions she said "I just went up to her and said 'do you want to be my friend?' " So there you go her first friend! LOL She was nonstop talking about all the great things she did at school and what a great time she had. I was so glad and know it will be a great year.

Later in the evening we were still talking about school and she said, "Mom, this one girl said I was mean" Red flags went up everywhere because we have been working for the past month on being mean. With her behavior and attitude problems I have been saying "you can't be mean or you won't have any friends" She was quite concerned that someone called her mean. So, I asked some more questions. Turns out the girl budged (big deal in 1st grade!) and Mikayla said "HEY!" she promises that is all she said. The girl turned around and said "your mean, you know that" Of all the words she could have used, that one probably hit Mikayla the hardest because I have told her if she is mean she won't have friends. We talked about it some more and she was ok with it.

Yesterday we had a meeting with the Principal, Guidance Counselor and her teacher. The teacher and Principal are new to the school so were not aware of our situation, the Guidance Counselor knew both boys and had great things to say about them. It was a great meeting and we just shared some of the possible side effects, things we have experienced and informed them a little about what she has been through. We wanted to make sure they alert us of any concerns in her education or emotional state as these are known areas of long term effects. We left the meeting confident that we had the support of our school staff and that helped me to feel better. Some of you that were around at diagnosis may remember we had a bad experience with the school in dealing with Tyler, so I am almost glad we have a new principal and teacher on board.

In first grade during the first week they bring a brown bag home and are to put a few things in that bag that tells a little about themselves. Mikayla was so excited to do this and she chose to put her port in her bag. I had talked with her a while ago about it being her choice if she told everyone she had had cancer or not. I told her no one would know and she could keep it that way or she could tell them. She has asked me if the kids would make fun of her because she had cancer and I couldn't answer that for her, you just don't know with kids. So, I was surprised a little when she decided on Day 2 to announce to the class what she had been through. I think it went well, her teacher, Mrs. Blackford said the kids had lots of questions and Mikayla was a little shocked they didn't know what a port is. In Mikayla's world this is all normal, she doesn't realize how rare it is to have cancer. I am so proud of her for talking about it and now she doesn't have to hide it.

She came home from Day 2 saying that "everyone is my friend, well only the girls" LOL So, she is adjusting well to her new school and loving every minute. Although it did seem to catch up with her last night. She was a little emotional and asked to go to bed at 6:30. She slept until 9:30 got up had a snack and went back to bed. I think school is wearing her out! Hopefully she will adjust to going to school all day, every day. But I do know she is enjoying it. She even asked me this morning why she couldn't go to school tomorrow. :)

We pick up the boys from Sib Camp in the morning and I can't wait! It has been a weird, quiet week and I am ready for my noisy, busy family to be back.

Don't forget to order your Beat Cancer Shirts at www.beatcancertoday.org and put my name as a pickup to avoid shipping. The last day to order is Tuesday! We have sold well over 1,000 shirts! AMAZING! We will get the word out and bring awareness to Childhood Cancer!

Also, continue to pray for Maddeson (cp: Maddesonsfight), I did get a chance to stop and see them this week. They were able to bring Sea World to her and it was a great day. But their moments are coming to an end and my heart aches terribly for them all. It is hard to see a purpose in this. Please pray for the Tersinar family especially in these next few days!

Christie