Back to School

It was back to school for all the kids this week--and I think I've signed more class rules, regulations and expectations papers than should be legal. I want to know why the schools can't just say respect-your-teachers-or-you'll-get-sent-to-the-principal's-office-for-a-spanking like they did when I was a kid. I don't remember my mom ever signing piles of rules and regs. It's ridiculous. Parents just need to say, "Look--be good, do your homework, and obey your teachers--end of discussion." Think of all the trees that would be saved.

Enough ranting. So Annie had a good first week. She has a new school and a new teacher this year, and the same (wonderful) nurse as last year. Annie is so much different than just 8 weeks ago--her nurse was pretty amazed at her progress. In June, she was having dozens of seizures a day and could barely hold her head up. Now she's alert, strong, much more vocal, and hasn't had a seizure since the end of June. I'm reminded when people comment on how well Annie's doing that I need to stop, take a breath, and appreciate what God has done, too.

Like, tonight, I was holding her on my lap while talking to my mother-in-law on the phone, and Annie was getting fidgety, so I asked Bill to pick her up and put her on the floor. Well, you'd think we had taken away her favorite toy or something--the tears just welled up in her eyes, she started sobbing and saying, "la-la-la-la-la," which translated means, "Please put me back on my mom's lap!" How can I explain that her emotional response is a miracle? Or when we put her in bed, and she laughs and giggles then snuggles right down under her blanket, peeking over it with twinkly eyes and a look you haven't seen in 18 months--how can I tuck her in without praying, "Thank You, Lord--thank You, thank You, thank You"?

Her vocabulary is up to at least four words: "Yeah," "No," "Hi," and what her nurse says sounds like "Done." Can you believe that?? The change has been so gradual, and it seems like every day she's added some new sound--now it's just a matter of trying to figure out what she means, because she sure knows what she's saying.

It is good for me to stop, take a breath, and thank God for what He has done.

Jean

“Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” Mark 5:19