You make a million different decisions each day - which outfit to wear, what to eat for breakfast, which way to take to work, what to eat for lunch, what to make for dinner, to work out or not to work out, etc, etc. Some days there are bigger decisions to make: to call on a friend in need, to let go of a grudge, to change your child's daycare, to 'refresh' a house instead of moving, to NOT fight with your husband when you really want to. You get the drill. Some of these decisions are pretty meaningless and some of them end up changing your life in great ways.
Like changing your child's daycare. From the time Alex was 7 months until he was three years old, he went to a daycare right down the road. It started out as a small place and we were really happy there. It felt like an extension of our family. They really cared about Alex and took care of him through his different health issues. But as he got older and closer to three, we realized that he needed more of a preschool to keep him from being bored. The place he was at was also growing a bit too fast for their own good and let's just say, we were no longer seeing eye to eye.
As we started looking around for a new place, we realized we were getting a great bargain where he was at. Or were we? The price was pretty low, especially for the 280 corridor, but maybe the saying of "you get what you pay for" was accurate. Through our search, we learned that Alex could be getting a whole lot more but it would definitely cost us. And yes, that check was going to be hurt a bit to write each month, but we decided it would be well worth it. So, we had it narrowed down to three places and had to make the final decision. One preschool didn't carry their curriculum through the summer, so they got crossed off. We figured if we were going to be paying for preschool, we wanted 'school' all year round. After touring the other two places, we fell in love with Odyssey. It just seemed like the perfect fit for Alex and was right across the street from my work.
Now, at the time this seemed like an important decision, but I had no idea how much the school would come to mean to us, how much it would come to mean to Alex. Since his birth, we have tried to surround Alex with people that genuinely care about him, people that have his best interest at heart, people who love him almost as much as his family. This can be hard to make happen with a school, but we definitely hit the jackpot. I wish I had the space here to list all the ways they've shown they care, but a few come to mind that I wanted to write about today.
Soon after Alex started at Odyssey, he had the major surgery on his ear (where they had to scrape infection off his inner ear bone). I think he'd been there at the max a month. He had to be home for a week since he had a PICC line. But when he went back, the teachers had this HUGE get well card signed for him by all his classmates. I can STILL remember the way his eyes lit up. He REALLY felt that they cared about him and even mentioned it the other day. He asked me, "do you remember when I was sick and my class made me a card? That made me so happy." And as a parent, NOTHING makes you happier than when your child is happy.
Another time that meant so much to me, and to Alex, was when the class made me 'positive cards' (not get well cards, but cards with positive sayings) when I was going through my cancer treatments. When I showed up that day and got the gift, I could tell he was as overcome as I was. He kept bragging about how the teachers came up with the idea for "HIS mommy". The mailbox with those cards still sits in our house and he references it from time to time. A few weeks ago he pointed it out and said "my class loves us, don't they Mommy?" He said it with such feeling, like he knew they TRULY love him, that it's not just words. Their actions show it all the time.
And today, those actions spoke VERY loudly again. Alex has strep throat so missed the last two days of school. I knew his friends would have missed him, but what I wasn't prepared for was the teacher's response. When we walked in the door, her face lit up, she smiled really big and called him over for a hug. He ran to her with such glee, she grabbed him up and twirled him around. It warmed my heart like nothing else could. Some mothers may feel a bit jealous over the connection between their children and their caretakers, but I am thrilled by it. I'm over the moon that every day he goes somewhere to be loved, not just cared for. And there is a HUGE difference. One you pay for and the other is given from the heart.
So, today I am counting my blessings for this wonderful preschool my son goes to. Reading over this blog, I know it may come across like an advertisement for a school, but it's coming from a place of thankfulness. I'm thankful that we made a decision two years ago to take him out of a place that wasn't working. I'm thankful that we made the decision to place him where he's at. I'm thankful that God has provided for us financially so we could write that check every month. And lastly, I'm thankful for all the wonderful people there who look out for him when I can't. I know he's in the best place for him and I know it was all part of God's plan. I hope all the decisions I make today are just as good.
God bless you all and thank you for reading.
