School...the girls are in kindergarten!!

Haven't been posting to the blog for quite some time now. We set it to private a while back because we realized other countries were linking to it and using pieces of our blog posts in their stories, etc. It kind of gave me the creeps, so we locked down the blog.

The girls started kindergarten in August and they absolutely LOVE it. It's full day kindergarten from 9 am to 3:42 pm. I requested that the girls be placed in the same class, and I am thankful that they granted my request. We might consider splitting them up into different classes next year, but I really wanted them to be together the first year. Not only is it easier on me (don't have to juggle multiple programs/class parties/field trips, etc) but it's easier on them too because they already have a familiar face to ease the transition. Plus Emily and Madison can keep an eye out for Alexa with her peanut allergy.

While I was registering the girls for school, the lady that was processing my paperwork asked if I would be interested in volunteering at the school. I told her yes, and she made a note on my paperwork. It was actually a relief that she asked me that because it would allow me to get to know the staff better and would keep me close by in case Alexa had an issue with her peanut allergy. I was SUPER worried about how the school would handle Alexa's allergy, but I have to say that the school has been VERY proactive in making sure she does not come into contact with peanuts at school.

The nurse was super helpful and even requested that the girls be placed in the classroom closest to her office, and that Alexa be assigned the 1st lunch time of the day so that there would be less chances for her to come in contact with peanuts on tables, floor, in the food line, etc. The teacher was taking the issue very seriously too, and that made me feel much better. The school serves breakfast in the classroom each day and for the first few weeks, the teacher asked me to come into the class each morning and look over the labels with her to be sure that the foods were okay for Alexa to eat. She also called me at home on several occasions to ask if it was okay for Alexa to be exposed to certain foods/candy, etc. There was a special meeting arranged between myself, the nurse, the teacher and someone from the office (it happened to be the social worker) to discuss the allergy plan for her. It was reassuring to know that we were all on the same page and that everyone knew what to do.

The cafeteria has designated a "peanut free" table in the cafeteria that is specially cleaned each day, and the straws, napkins, etc from that table do not come in contact with the straws/napkins from the other tables. The same children eat at that table each day and none of them bring any items with peanuts in it. For the first several weeks of school, I packed lunches for the girls and did not allow them to eat school lunch because the school serves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches EVERY day for lunch. It made me nervous to think of all the ways the food could be cross contaminated but eventually, I decided to allow them to eat school food if they wanted to. I had been volunteering at least for the first half of the day nearly every single day since school started, so I was fairly confident that the cafeteria staff was being cautious. I also realized that she was probably in less danger eating the food at school than she is eating food at a restaurant. The girls are very happy that they get to each lunch at school like their friends, and I am relieved that the school takes her food allergy so seriously. They even sent one child from the girls' class to the nurse to change his shirt because he had gotten peanut butter on it and they didn't want to risk Alexa coming in contact with it in the classroom.

I am confident that the teacher is doing her best to keep Alexa safe....she even caught a slip up that was my fault! They had asked for the parents to donate items for their Christmas party. I was chosen to donate candy, so I sent daddy to the store to buy 3 bags. I didn't pay attention to what he bought and just took it into school the next day. While I was volunteering in the office, I was called to the classroom by the teacher to check something for her. She showed me the candy I had brought in and 2 of the 3 bags either contained peanuts or said it may contain peanuts. Yikes!! Talk about embarrassing! I apologized and thanked her several times for noticing it, but I felt like crawling under a rock. It was nice to know that she was checking everything though...even the stuff that comes from me!

I don't allow the girls to ride the bus to and from school - for several reasons. In our school district, nearly all of the kindergarten classes are in one building. This means that for KG kids, they ride the bus to the Elementary schools, get off the bus there and are then put on another bus to be shuttled to KG. As if that thought isn't bad enough, the bus ride is about 40 minutes one way. It's only a 5 minute drive to the school from our house! They wouldn't allow Alexa to carry her epipens with her, and the thought of her coming into contact with peanuts on the bus...plus the length of the drive....it just made more sense to me if I drove the girls to and from school each day. The girls really want to ride the bus, but I just can't bring myself to allow it. Maybe next year....we'll see.

I'm really glad we did not wait another year to put the girls in school. They enjoy school so much, they need the social interactions, the daily structure, the time away from mommy and they are learning SO much. It's true that they were probably more behind than most of their class (at least in the beginning) and it's definitely true that they are a lot smaller physically than most of the students in the school....but I still think we made the right decision.