Good Things For Gwendolyn: Being One of the Gang at Preschool

These last few months at preschool have flat out been a blast. For Gwendolyn. And for us. Gwendolyn attending school has never been so much about learning her A-B-Cs or mastering her 1-2-3s -- she's picked those up regardless of preschool. For us, it's always been about being social. It's about interacting with her peers. It's about being included. It's about giving her the opportunity to truly feel like she's one of the gang -- a kid just like all the other kids.

There are too many to list, but here are a few recent GREAT things for Gwendolyn at preschool. Some may seem pretty ordinary to most, but for Gwendolyn these are confidence building experiences that evoke feelings of inexplicable positivity. And they are just plain awesome:

• There is a little girl -- we'll call her "R" -- who has made it her mission to be Gwendolyn's best friend. Not in a forced adults telling her to be nice way, but in an organic, carefree way. From the first day of school, "R" exuberantly ran up to Gwendolyn, introduced herself, and said, "Let's be friends." And every day since then they have formed a special bond. What is especially awesome is she fully accepts Gwendolyn for who she is. When Gwendolyn joins "R" in an activity but has to do it in a different way, all "R" sees is that they are doing the activity together. And she has modeled that attitude to other children in the school. It is always an incredible day when "R" is playing with us. 

• "Hanging" upside down on the monkey-bars. Her friends climb and hang all over the monkey-bars. They're pretty excited about it. Gwendolyn may not be able to climb exactly like them, but she is right beneath them the whole time. When they swing across, we take her arms and make believe she's swinging across with them. And when they hang upside down, we recline her stroller seat all the way back so she's literally upside down and put her arms up above her head. And she "hangs" from the monkey-bars upside down -- just like her friends. The best was when one friend said, "Gwendolyn, I want you to climb with me!" Then looked at me and said, "Gwendolyn's Daddy, Gwendolyn wants to climb with me!" After she climbed and hung with Gwendolyn she jumped off the monkey-bars, ran over to Gwendolyn, gave her a high-five, and said, "Gwendolyn, I love climbing with you!" Priceless.

• Coming through the gates in the morning and seeing "R" running towards her yelling, "Gwendolyn is here! Gwendolyn is here!" This happens almost every morning. And the warm look on Gwendolyn's face is unmatched.
• Having friends run up to Gwendolyn, look her in the eyes, and pro-actively ask her if she wants to come do or play something with them. It usually goes something like this >> Friend: "Gwendolyn, do you want to come ride bikes with me!" Gwendolyn: "GAH!" Friend: "Um, Gwendolyn's Daddy. Gwendolyn said she wants to come ride bikes with me! Let's go!"
• Choosing which bicycle helmet she'll put on to "ride bikes" and chase her friends around the bike track. Then zipping around the track, looking for "bears" in the forest, and stopping to "fill-up" with 100 gallons of lemon gas.

• Having the teacher let Gwendolyn decide which book the group will read at snack time. I love it when after Gwendolyn decides the kids say, "Yeah! Let's read that one!" She feels so proud. Just part of the group.
• Sitting at the table with her peers at snack time and having one of the little boys at the table stop the teacher passing out snack and say, "Wait! Teacher, Gwendolyn wanted a carrot!" All because he understood her "Gah!" (yes) response.

• Doing art projects with her friends -- side by side.
• Finding a surprise art project in her "cubby" that one of her friends made for her on a day she wasn't there.
• Playing dress-up. Tons and tons and tons of silly dress-up.

• Teaching her friends their A-B-Cs on her iPad. Watching a crowd of friends gather around Gwendolyn, waiting semi-patiently for what Gwendolyn will teach them next. Seeing how it becomes such a fun game for all of them.
• Spending time in her stander. The kids love to see how tall she is and Gwendolyn loves showing them!

• Being part of "snow day" at preschool. Yes, they had snow trucked in for the day. Gwendolyn loved dumping the HUGE dump truck full of snow -- just like the little boys were doing.
• Having Little Star come visit her preschool and introducing him to all of her classmates. She was so proud!

• Swinging on the swings together. I love it when the kids argue over who gets to push Gwendolyn and then beg for a turn in Gwendolyn's hammock swing after she's done.

• Getting hugs from friends on our way out. Sad to see Gwendolyn go.

Gwendolyn having these experiences has not only been good for Gwendolyn -- they have been good for us. Seeing her thrive, watching her confidence soar, witnessing these special moments when she gets to be just a child. Not a child with SMA. Not a disabled child. Just a child. It has made us even more ultra-cognizant of Gwendolyn's desire to live this life -- her life -- her way. Every day brings new opportunities for us to let go and allow Gwendolyn to have those life-making experiences. And we love it!

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