Maggie turned 9 today. Yesterday we celebrated with her siblings and one of her Uncles, an Aunt and two of her cousins. It was a good day for her. She received a new bike from us and a doll from her cousins that she had been wanting. However, for the past 2 months have been spent telling her she cannot have a slumber birthday party. She has one friend she could invite and her cousin who is 4 yrs the younger. When she was in first grade we were able to have a swimming party at the park districts indoor pool for her with all the girls from her class. This was the year she spent in an inclusion classroom and had really grown as far as attending school went. She had a very disciplined teacher and a special education teacher that had gone to a seminar to understand her primary diagnosis, Sensory Processing Disorder. She was doing INCREDIBLE in this classroom. She had an absolutely wonderful time. She was, well, a normal kid on this day. She was a normal 7 year old. The stimulation didn't bother her, her auditory was on track, her maturity and social skills were both completely age appropriate. This day was nothing short of MIRACULOUS. By the time she entered 2nd grade a lot had changed at her school and change is not a good thing for Maggie! After a rough start, classroom changes and med changes we eventually had to remove her from her school to an out of district school. She spends her days in a classroom with other children that have diagnosed behavior, emotional, neurological and mental impairments and disabilities. These children are all there from various school districts surrounding the school, and they are ALL boys. You can't exactly have a princess party with a group of boys or a slumber party for that matter. It has proven heartbreaking for me to continually tell her no. To try and reason with her. To try and reassure her. I honestly thought that having the day off of school for her birthday would be considered awesome to her. Not so much! It isn't that she wants to be at school, but it has been nothing but an emotional roller coaster ride today. She was sure that she was having a party even though we had not invited anyone over and there were no invitations. She was sure that even though I had said no several dozen times over the past 2 months that there was in fact going to be a slumber party. She is in fact devastated by it all! Another birthday of feeling like a complete failure as a parent! Another day of not having a clue how to make it all better. Just another birthday!
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