I'm starting to own it.

First of all I want to give a quick update about Sophia's recovery, she is doing so well and so much better than I expected. She has accepted the fact that she has a cast on and has adapted to this reality. She still looks at her tent and the toys in it and wants to get them but doesn't get frustrated when she can't do it, she just wants me to play with her and read books together and I can definitely do that. The biggest challenge has been carrying her and keeping the cast clean and dry and we've done our best to do so. Sophia has been going to school for a week and is very happy to be able to have a somewhat regular routine. The cast is off on Monday and she is going to wear a brace which we are going to wean her off little by little and after that we can really put this episode in the past for good.

Today there was an open house at Sophia's school and even though I talk to her teacher everyday and Sophia has an IEP and her curriculum is a little different from the rest of the kids I wanted to go and see what kind of activities Sophia is exposed to everyday.  The teacher showed us all the things the kids are working on, projects, paintings, self portraits, etc, and I could see my daughter's work in every one of them.  Even though there are other special needs kids in the classroom, it's very clear that Sophia is behind the rest but that didn't bother me at all today. The teacher explained that in every activity, all the kids, no matter where in their development they are, all of them get exposed to it and get the chance to participate and the teachers help them with their individual needs. Sophia may be a little behind but she hasn't stopped progressing since day one and these teachers and therapists have made sure of that.

One of the things that I liked the most was the beautiful drawings that the kids made of their families. Sophia's wasn't a drawing but a photocopy of a picture of Eric and me. Sophia decorated them with dot markers, the teacher told me that she recognized us and was smiling the whole time. I could see her work on the photocopy and I could picture her coloring it with the markers. Today I was able to enjoy my daughter's work without longing for what it would have been if she wasn't special needs. Up until today I was able to do that only at home, isolated from the rest of the world, it was still hard for me to sit in a group of typical and special needs parents and not being a little sad for not belonging to the first one. But not today.

 Yes, Sophia is a special needs child. She has specific and unique needs, she is getting the help she needs and she is responding to it. She is a special needs kid and that is not stopping her from participating in the school activities, socializing, playing and having friends just like the rest of the kids, only in her own special way.