Good heavens, it has been a busy week. Feisty Pants is back in school. For the uninitiated, she goes to school year round. Many disabled kids do. She gets a few weeks at the end of the regular year. And a few weeks at the end of summer. Feisty Pants doesn't seem to mind. We are borrrrrrring, in her opinion.
And the summer session places an emphasis on fun. They have a lot of little field trips (such as to the fair and to local parks.) They even refer you to as summer camp. And I will thank all of you to NOT tell her otherwise, thankyouverymuch, as so far, she thinks it's a hoot and "better than regular school". First person to burst that bubble on me gets hit with the biggest stick I can find. You have all been warned.
But while I am happy to see her having fun (and more importantly, back in her therapies) and looking forward to getting ANYTHING done around this zoo, I forget what that first week of school is like for moms. You know all those annoying forms you fill out every September? Physicals, allergies, emergency contacts, permission slips. Square that number. I have to add permission to treat forms, permission to give medication forms (one for EACH med),medication lists, doctors (all of them) contact info, preferred ambulance/first responder/emergency room lists. Then add doctors orders for tube feedings, suctioning, cpr, nursing, emergency medications, instructions for oxygen delivery and when said O2 is necessary. Now multiply that times two- because one set is for summer, one for the regular school year. Oh and Feisty Pants has to have a private duty nurse with her in order to attend school. Which the school does not provide. So I have to fill a complete set of the above forms (plus some extra ones too) for the private duty nurse. (Plus copies of the private duty nurses forms for the school to keep on record =even though they have their own.) And prescriptions for each individual therapy. Plus any permission forms the therapist needs. Plus written permission for each individual involved so they can talk to each other. And just when I think we're done. Feisty Pants gets some additional therapy outside of school too. So they will all need their own set of forms. And permission to talk to all their above mentioned people. And every last molecule of all this blather has to be done before the work can start. Plus there is a social worker whose job is to help guide families through this like Virgil taking Dante through all nine levels of the inferno. And she has her own damn paperwork to oversee all the paperwork.
So you will have to forgive us if we are cranky and useless this week. You will have to be tolerant if we get nothing done. If the lawn is unmowed and the dog has eaten my homework. If the laundry and mail has piled up. If I smell like white out and coffee and angst. And Goo is running away from home for lack of dinner and human company. It's blizzard season in Feisty Pants Land and I have to shovel out before cabin fever sets in for good.