This past Saturday Duhdee, Monkey and I went to dinner with some new friends. The little girl, N, has Down’s Syndrome and is in the general education class that Monkey goes to for inclusion.
We met N’s mom over the summer, they just moved to the district and N was at the same school as Monkey for the summer session. She stopped us to talk about what we’ve been asking for and receiving for Monkey from the district. This was right in the middle of our OMFGWDHAFIEP ((OMFG We Don’t Have A Fucking IEP)) period which probably made us poor candidates for that conversation but she didn’t back away from us slowly and run! Which immediately makes her our kind of people.
I was a little anxious ((Right? I should search the blog for that phrase, I am guessing it is the most used phrase here.)) but without any reason ((Another common theme, I wish I could remember this when I am so anxious.)). Monkey briefly hesitated when we got to the front door but after less than a minute he walked into their house, took off his shoes and immediately went upstairs with the kids. **Blink**Blink** For the rest of the evening the kids would periodically run upstairs ((Monkey insisted that if one of them went they ALL went, including N’s older brother.)) to find a toy and then bring it back down to show everyone.
When Monkey wasn’t completely making himself at home with the kids, he was sitting at the counter in their kitchen giving cooking instructions to N’s Mom and Dad. He was absolutely hysterical and they had a great sense of humor about it. They totally understand that when you wait over 4 years to talk, you have an awful lot of things to catch up on 😉
Once dinner was ready the kids sat on stools at the counter and ate while the grown ups ate nearby at the table. Monkey ate a little of everything and asked for more rice. I was so proud of him for how independent and how polite he was! New place, new people and he acted like he owned the place.
As if having a lovely dinner with great new friends wasn’t enough, N’s mom shared a reading program they are using with N and it looks like it would be *great* for kids with fragile x too. And it’s FREE for downloading. Who doesn’t love free?
Check out See and Learn.