First Day Update

OMG!  To say Patty had a rough first day would be an understatement.  The poor kid cried so much that her eyes are bright pink underneath!  When I first laid eyes on her at pickup, I actually thought she'd been hit in the face.  Totally wasn't prepared for the sight.


She told me that I ran away and she was lost and scared and I didn't come get her.  It was the most awful night I've had in a long time.  You know the kind of crying you do when someone dies, the kind of sobs that shake your whole body?  Well, she had those last night while begging me "stay with me, stay with me".  What's a mom to do?  Vandy, please call soon, I so need your help!

In other school news, we decided for Patty's safety and well being that she will not ride the bus.  We had planned to have her ride the special needs bus three days a week in the afternoon.  Come to find out, Patty would be riding the same bus regardless of which elementary school she attends, because there are only two specials buses that serve the south end of the county.  If you live in Nortonville / White Plains and have a special needs child, consider yourself lucky. The rest of us in the southland get to share special needs transportation.  Her bus ride would have lasted somewhere around two hours and would have taken her nearly to Christian county before finally dropping her off last.  Casey could literally drive to Fort Campbell and back in the amount of time Patty would be on that bus.

Of course, I knew it would take longer to get home on a bus.  But two hours or more?  Really?  That's just cruel and unusual.  We live fifteen minutes from the school.  I'll be picking her up.  Actually, if she could ride the regular bus, her bus ride would be about an hour; half the time of the special needs bus.  And just to give you something to ponder, there's a document on the KDE that says, and I quote:  The time children with disabilities spend on a bus should not exceed the amount of time children without disabilities spend on a bus.  So, do me a favor.  Ask everyone you know how long it takes their child to get home on the bus.  If any other student has a bus ride two hours or more, I would like to know about it.