Special Guest

My husband picked up my son at school today and as his teacher watched him get into the car she asked if my daughter would like to come to visit their class and talk about what a day in her life would be like?  As they drove home they called her and proposed the idea.   My daughter was interested.   She would be a special guest of the class, talking about herself.

My son's classmates and teachers are interested in what it's like to be blind and to have a blind sibling.   They are a respectful and friendly group and would treat her disability with positivity.   From my perspective as a parent, it would be a good experience for my daughter to have children interested in her.  

But it could be hard on my daughter as well.   She doesn't like to talk about being blind.   She doesn't want to tell us what she can see or if her vision has changed.   She doesn't like when people ask her what her cane is for.  She's never talked about how she's different and I'm not sure she even knows how she's different because while she knows what she needs to do to accomplish something, she doesn't necessarily understand what sighted people can do in all cases.

I'm also not sure she would be able to stand in front of a group of students and talk through her day without becoming shy.   And yet when I called my daughter later (she's just arrived at Mimi and Gramp's house to visit for a few days) she said she'd heard and she sounded rather excited about it.  So I got to thinking about what we could do to make the experience a success for her and build her confidence at the same time.

I thought of questions I'd ask her that might differentiate her as a blind person.   She could type the answers up on her braillewriter and then start by reading what she'd written to the class and then answer any questions they had afterward.  If I ordered the questions in the right way, it would tell a story of her day and show how she was the same and yet different.

Then she could bring some things she uses like her braillewriter, cane, tactile games like Monopoly and Chutes & Ladders.

I'm going to work on a list of leading questions and see if she'd really like to be a special guest of my son's class and talk all about her.

The Big Boy Update:  Fortnite has been down for two days.   It was the end.   It was over.   It was also a bit of a media stunt coupled with a large international software rollout.   The changes are extensive and exciting and as such my husband let my son have some weeknight screen time for a bit to check it out.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was very excited to go to the mountains today to visit with Mimi and Gramps for four days.  Aunt Margaret and I drove her until we met my parents half-way.   We all had lunch at Wendy's and then, after a hug goodbye my daughter told me she was okay about it, but she didn't think she was going to miss me.   I told her I was so glad she was going to have so much fun that she wouldn't miss me.