Change...

Last Friday sucked. There's really no other way to say it. I cried A LOT.

 

After weeks and weeks of almost daily issues at school it became clear that we needed to make a change. R is trying to tell us something in her 3 year old way and we really can't continue down this path expecting something different to happen. We have tried EVERYTHING to make it work. The school has been working with us, but I feel like we have overstayed our welcome and it's time to go.

 

The reality is that a classroom size of 22 kids just may be too much for her. That's what her OT told us and we've been trying to avoid because, well, transitions suck for her too. If we could figure out a way to make where we were work, we were all for it. But, it wasn't. That isn't really fair to R and it's not fair to the other kids she was in class with.

 

I spent a lot of time prior to Friday looking in to other preschools. Trying to find one that is small in size AND accommodates two working parents is pretty much impossible. It's typically church programs that are smaller and most only have preschool in the AM and no extended care.

 

Our options ended up being to put her in another facility that met our work schedule needs but didn't really meet her sensory needs OR focus on her sensory needs and sacrifice some things in the grown up world. To move schools doesn't just impact us, it impacts my whole family and that's tough for us to handle. To make this work for R we have to call on my family to help in ways we have not needed to before. Having them help then impacts other members of my family because it makes my parents less available to help them. This is tough for SP and I to handle but we have to do what is best for R.

 

The school we are going to try is SMALL. VERY, VERY SMALL in comparison to what we are used to. There will be 8 kids in her class and most days not even that many as most kids only go part time. That's a major difference from a class of 22. The preschool is part of an Episcopal church and a former classmate of R's goes there. He had similar sensory issues and this change seems to work for him. Cross your fingers it works for us.

 

We were supposed to start a "trial" period today but this snowy weather has closed the schools. So we'll try on Wednesday. I really hate to put all my eggs in this basket, but running out of options.