Today was a BIG day for Jackson. Today he went to the first day of kindergarten. He was so excited, and said that he would help any of the kids that were sad and he would help them find a friend.
I didn't cry. I thought I would. I was extremely proud of my bald headed little guy. He lined up with the other kids, waved goodbye and went right into the class. He was confident, and not at all afraid that he looks different because he doesn't have hair.
If everything goes as well as we hope, he will get to go to about 60% of this school year.
I get to go to his class tomorrow and talk to the kids about Jackson and how he has cancer. I am not really sure what I will say, but I'll get to talk about the monkey that will sit in Jackson's chair when he's not there. It's a wonderful program that we learned about at the hospital through the child life specialist. You can read more about it here. Jackson LOVES his monkey- it came in the mail today (perfect timing). Jackson decided to name his monkey "Charlie".
Yeah, Jack! Way to kick cancer to the curb and choose kindergarten instead! I'll love being in school at the same time as you (or at the same time as Charlie). Keep up the good work. Be strong and work hard. I love you lots. GO TEAM JACK!
ReplyDeleteWhat a happy exciting day! And what a grown-up Jack doing the whole school thing! I think Charlie is amazing too and he must be very cool to help Jack out in such a nice way. Connie, I love that you're going to talk to the kids. The other kindergarten teacher that I taught with had Cerebral Palsy and walked with a crutch (sometimes 2) and would often fall down. She spent a whole afternoon the first week of school talking about it and showing pictures of her as a kid and a talking about her surgeries. The kids loved her unconditionally and took a vested interest in her cuz they had all their questions answered and understood why she looked and walked differently then they did. In fact one of their favorite things was to "borrow" her crutch when she was sitting down at recess. You'll be awesome too, just like your boy. I can't wait to hear how it goes! We love you SO much and are always praying for you!
ReplyDeleteYay for Kindergarten, Jackson! Connie, I am sure you will do a fantastic job tomorrow. You are in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteMy 1st grade daughter has sobbed her way to school for the past five days because everything has been so new for her - a new school, a new teacher and a FULL day of school. This morning, before we left, I pulled up your blog to show her Jackson's first day of school. She stopped crying for a little while, enough that she could see she was not the only one who was going through a hard time. Of course Jackson's hard time is different from hers, but it helped her be more brave today when she went off to school. Please tell Jackson that he is remembered in every. single. prayer. in our home!
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