Two for two

I feel like we're making progress.  Last night I was the team leader for a Little Girls Night in the Library Party several moms and I do each year as a fundraiser for Roo's school.  I started doing the party years ago when Big Sis was in 3rd grade.  The school librarian used to do a similar party but gave up because she didn't have moms helping and tried to rely on junior high girls who spent their time on the phone calling friends.  I asked her to participate again and if she did, I'd get a team of moms to help out.  So I did the party 5 years with my first team, took last year off, and then was asked to start it up again this year.  I knew it would be a fun thing for Marisa to do, and a great way to experience more inclusion with her classmates, so I said yes.  I had a new team of moms this year and they were all great to work with.  Big Sis came to help out and I got several other older girls to come too.  We had 29 1st through 3rd graders in the school from 6 to 9 pm.  Just a few tears from tired girls now and then, nothing major.  Marisa had a grand time, participated in all the activities, hung out with kids from all three grades, and didn't get overtired or engage in challenging behavior the entire time.  She did practice a little bit of tough love on a couple girls here and there, but they were good about making her stop and then letting her continue on playing with them.   They have learned how to be with her, and she is learning how to be with them.  That's what it's all about.

Today she went to a birthday party for one of the girls in her class.  All the girls from her class were at the party last night and then at the birthday party today.  This was the first time I felt comfortable leaving her at someone else's house and it worked out just fine.  Soon after we got there she did make a beeline upstairs to her friend's room, but the girls went to get her, brought her back down, and she became engaged in the party activities.  There are some really wonderful, sweet girls in her class, and the moms are terrific too.  This is the biggest reason I'm glad she's back in school now.  I've been thinking that she would be further along academically if she were home with me, and I know for a fact that would be the case; but seeing her blending in with her friends, and seeing them accommodate her naturally, welcoming her warmly when she walks in and hugging her sweetly when she leaves, makes this placement worthwhile.  The trick as we go along will always be to find that balance between the academics and the social.  For now, building friendships and all types of social relationships is the utmost goal.