A Glimpse of Parenthood

Today on the playground with my parapro and my 20 kindergartners, we witnessed a fall. A bad fall. A fall that made us gasp and take off running. A fall that broke an arm in 2 places. A fall that made the bone stick out in a way that I thought I'd lose my lunch.

I got there first and panicked. I yelled out to my para to come quick. She has a background in nursing and she is a wonderful momma herself. The only thing I could do was crowd control. Get everyone away and reassure the kids that he was going to be ok. I kept a calm face (for a while) and managed to get them inside.

911 was called and the EMT's came rushing in the back door to the nurse's office (the backdoor is to the left of my classroom, the nurses office on the right). Like the kids, I wanted to see what was happening. The little window did not offer much visibility and I tried to block it from the children. I saw people running back in forth, carrying bags, and finally a stretcher. They took him out in a neck brace on a stretcher.

I sank to the nearest chair and we all just looked at each other. You've never heard 5-year-olds this quiet. Then, the sound of the siren filled the air and I started to cry. Lightly, but I did. I couldn't take it. I love these kids. And one of them was in pain. I told the kids what was going on (just that he was going to see a special dr to fix his arm and that he was being brave and his mommy and mrs. c were with him and he was going to be ok)

The nurse came over to tell me the EMT's have never seen a break so bad and that they would have to take him immediately to the Children's Hospital in atl. While not a good sign, a relief that he was going to have the best possible care.

My para followed the ambulance and kept me posted for the remaining 2 hours of the school day. As soon as I could, I high-tailed it to the hospital.

When I arrived, he was laid out on a big bed in the ER room. He was dressed in a gown with tubes and wires all over him. He had a big cast on his arm. And a big smile when he saw me. I melted. This little guy had been so brave. They did x-rays, drew blood, put in various iv's, put a rubber sling type thing on his arm and pulled it back into place... but this child still smiled when he saw me.

He told me how brave he had been and how he liked the ambulance ride. He said he felt tired but the man kept saying 'stay with me'. "he thought i was gonna die!" he tells me in a silly way. He was so silly and talkative. You would have NEVER thought he had been through the previous 3 hours. He talked about how he thinks b/c he was so brave that he should get picked for the next student of the week. I told him I think that could be arranged. :) He said I better not forget! And that I can not tell the kids during calendar time until he was there. :)

When they finally came to release him to go home, the nurses told his mom that he could not return to school. That is the first time I saw him cry since I had been in the room with him. Seeing him cry about missing school made me choke back tears. However, he perked up again when the nurses let him take his neck brace, an extra sling, and his gown home so he can share them for show-and-tell when he returns! :)

I walked with his family to their car. I buckled him in the backseat with his bookbag and told him how proud I was of him. And I was.

I learned 2 things from this experience.

1. School is important when you're five. I love that he loves school that much. And we do have a little family in our room. School is where your friends are, your playtime, share time, lunch with friends, stories, art, music, pe, recess, and more. School is, in a way, the LIFE of a kindergartner. And I think I needed that reminder today. I have been so stressed and busy and, admittedly, overly eager for Spring Break. But tomorrow, I'll go in with a much different attitude. While I'm looking forward to a week off, my little class is also thinking about how they'll be away from their friends and 'home away from home' for a week.

2. Thank goodness for Zach. He is going to be the strong rock when one of our kids get hurt. He will be the calm, rational one that I will need to depend on. And I am so grateful for him.

Oh, and 3. That playground is now in TIME OUT! :)

*sigh... In 8 years of teaching this is the first time I've ever had a child get THAT hurt at school. It scared me to death. And it happened so fast. I don't know how parents do it!

It's All About the Timing

As scared to death as I am of getting the shot and suffering possible side effects and paying freakin' $750 for A SHOT, I'm also a bit thankful for the timing of it. Wanna know what's kept me distracted? (I know you're on the edge of your seat/couch/bed/etc) HAHA! :)

1. The house hunting, paperwork dealing, and pre-decorating have majorly distracted me!
2. I'm gonna get stuck with the lovely needle during my Spring Break (yes, this is bittersweet)
3. I'm spending the 4 days BEFORE the shot in NYC, baby! yeah! I'm so pumped. I've never been in the Spring! Only fall and winter. Looking forward to central park! (and LOTS of other stuff!)
4. I hosted my fun book club meeting this month. Which meant I had a book to read and a mini party to plan! We read They Did it with Love. Very good, light mystery! Had me up until the very end!
5. My SIL is having a boy. We found out a couple of weeks ago. This just pumped me up more for getting brave and strong about the shot and trying to think positive! My SIL's pregnancy is moving right along and now that we know the sex and the name, it's giving me major baby fever (as if it's not already there!)
6. It's soon. It's almost here. I haven't had to wait too long and over analyze things and stress. It's been on the backburner (thanks to all my distractions!)
7. And finally...it's ONE STEP CLOSER TO A BABY!

Lots of Catching Up to Do

Wow, I feel so bad I haven't written. I knew I needed to but things have gotten so busy that I kept putting it off and then before I knew it - it had been a month! So here goes, our month in bullets:

• House hunting continued every weekend and some weeknights --- ooooohhh, the things I've seen!!! The good, bad, and UGLY for sure! (and some scary! I came home crying 2x!)
• My Stepdad has a heart attack! Go to Alabama to be there for his double bypass surgery. He is recovering so well! We are SO thankful!
• Find THE house! woohoo! Put an offer on it. Go back and forth for days...finally agree on a price. Then begins the inspections, etc... So glad Z is taking care of all that stuff! I'm like "tell me where to sign!"
• ivf consult. overwhelming to say the least. meeting with the dr. was good. he was so calm about everything and answered all of our questions and even answered some we hadn't even thought to ask! It was the financial part of the meeting that was crazy. And the scheduling stuff. See, after yet another vag ultrasound to confirm that dang cyst, dr. K wants me on a month of Lu.pron to supress it before beginning the ivf treatment. but it's hard to schedule all that b/c i have to get the shot while on my period. And even with birth control, I still don't know exactly when that'll be...And wow-- more paperwork and lots of blood work to be done!
• schedule a vaca! Z says we need to get away before all the ivf stuff starts. so we are leaving friday night for NYC! It's perfect timing..because we close on the house Wednesday, I've got another dr appt Thursday, and then Friday starts spring break!
• hosted a bool club meeting (we read "they did it with love"-- SO GOOD!)
• helped Z with 2 weddings and 3 baby photo shoots.

Ok, I think that catches me up for the most part. I left my work craziness out, but who cares about that! haha!

So all in all, it's been good but busy. We're glad my stepdad is recovering so well, the house stuff is almost done, and we should be all moved in before beginning the ivf treatment!!! WOOHOO! It's FINALLY all coming together!