Lunch With Helen

Excited to see me

Eating lunch


After recess

Last Wednesday Helen's school had "bring a friend to lunch" day, so I went. I reminded her in the morning, while waiting for the bus, that I would be there. I went to the kid's school to help with hot lunch, like I do every Wednesday, then headed to Helen's school right after. When I got there, I had to wait with the other parents in the hallway, lunches were running behind. While I was standing there, I saw Helen coming down the hallway, she was skipping. I didn't say anything and waited for her to see me. She's looking down while she's skipping, she stops, looks up, and sees me. "MOMMY!" she yells, and starts running. She gave me a big hug, almost knocking me over since she came at me full speed! She told me, "Come on", so I followed to her inclusion class where her coat is hanging on the wall. Her classmates are all getting their boots and coats on since they'll be going outside right after they're done eating. She walks up to them and says, "Guys, guys, look, it's Lolly!" They all just stare at me, they have no idea what she just said, they don't know her name for me is Lolly. I explained that to her, so she said, "Look, it's Mommy." They all said hi to me and then a few of the girls told me she was so excited about me coming, it was all she talked about that morning. I followed behind her class on the way to the lunchroom and watched my big girl get her hot lunch. We found a spot to sit at the table and were joined by one of her classmates and his aide from her special ed. class. He told me all she talked about was me coming for lunch, she was very excited. After lunch the kids lined up for recess, I was the only parent to go outside, what's up with that!?!! It was a nice day, a little gloomy, but not freezing cold! I watched her play with some of her friends, and was told by one of her classmates how she likes to push on the slide. I was a bit concerned when I saw how much supervision they have on the playground....not much. I talked to the aide and then to one of the teachers about it and found out they were lucky to have that amount. I voiced my concern for Helen's safety, especially since she's getting older. My plan is to go back when the weather gets warmer and watch what goes on. If I don't feel comfortable, I will talk with the Principal. When recess was over, it was time to line up and go inside. Helen didn't want to come off the equipment, which has always been an issue. I couldn't get to her, there was a big pile of snow and I only had on tennis shoes. Spencer, the aide, finally got her off the slide. She followed her classmates inside, took her coat and boots off, then said, "Come on Lolly, let's go." She wanted me to stay and join her for the rest of the day. I told her I had to get home to let Toby out. She was fine with that, said bye and disappeared into her classroom. Walking down the hallway I thought to myself, "That was the best hour and a half I've had in a long time!"

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue