~I'm Raising a High-Maintenance Gal~

Last week we had Parent-Teacher conferences before school (best idea ever) to discuss our children and our concerns for their school year.

Which means I have to explain how high-maintenance MonaLisa is to her new teacher. The conversation goes something like this:

"Well, to begin with MonaLisa won't be here the second day of school. She has to have two teeth pulled."

Ms. A: "That won't be a problem. If she's still not feeling well on Thursday, just go ahead and keep her home."

"Ok. She's also going to be late for school on the 9th. She has to get impressions made for her space maintainer at the orthodontist."

Ms. A: "My daughter had braces for 10 years. I understand."

"And she has to leave early on the 4th and 11th for physical therapy. Then on the 12th she's going to be late again because she has to see her asthma doctor. Plus, it's her birthday and she'd like to bring in treats."

Ms. A: (in her mind this is what I'm sure she's thinking) "How many other ways can you disrupt my class and your daughter's education?"

"Then on the 17th she has her well-child appointment with her pediatrician and has to get her space maintainer fit at the orthodontist, so I should be able to get her here by 11:30. And, um, on the 23rd she has her regular dentist appointment at 9am in [insert city 20 miles away] so I should have her here by 11 or so."

Ms. A: (this time aloud) "I'm sure it will be fine, it's not like we're in high school. Is there anything else I need to know about your daughter?"

"Well, she's far-sighted and has to wear her glasses for everything but PE and recess. And she sees double so she has a tendency to get headaches. So, she also will be going to see her optometrist and opthalmologist twice each year. She sees her asthma doctor quarterly and her asthma shows up through coughing so if she's coughing she needs to go to the office and take her albuterol."

Ms. A: "Does she know to go to the office?"

"Actually she's kind of embarrassed by her asthma and so she probably won't speak up."

Ms. A: "So she's timid."

"Yes. That's the perfect word for her. And she's left-handed so you'll need to seat her appropriately."

Ms. A: "By the way does she prefer to go by MonaLisa or just Mona?"

"Actually, she prefers to be called Mona, but she likes it to be written MonaLisa."

I am not making this up. This is her/my life for the month of September. Honestly, how many of your kids have a pediatrician, asthma doctor, pediatric dentist, pediatric oral surgeon, orthodontist, optometrist, pediatric opthalmologist, and physical therapist? (Ratchet only has a pediatrician, asthma doctor, pediatric dentist, pediatric opthalmologist, and an occupational therapist.)

So today I was dreading this conversation:

"Um, MonaLisa's dance teacher has decided to move her up two levels instead of one this year."

Ms. A: "That is so exciting. What a great opportunity for her."

"Actually there's a problem. Her dance teacher actually does the dance schedule knowing that MonaLisa lives the farthest away. But, since she wasn't expecting to move her up to Intermediate (formerly Level 4) she didn't plan the schedule around that. So, her ballet class starts at 3:55 on Tuesdays instead of 7pm on Wednesdays. Will it be a problem to take her out at 3:15?"

Ms. A: "Absolutely. I'd do it if it was my daughter."

(Totally did not expect that answer.) "So, is it okay if she changes into her leotard and tights during the last recess? She'll wear her warm up suit over it. And can I come put her bun in during that same time?"

Ms. A: "Well, I don't like the idea of her changing in the regular restroom, so I'll get her special permission to change in the staff restroom in the front office. It's more private."

Seriously, is this teacher for real. I'm loving her. But, I am scared that this is going to get annoying the further into the school year we get.

Then I had to go to Ratchet's class and ask to take him out early. His teacher was fine with it, but he's actually in music class during that time. When I talk to the music teacher, he's not okay with it. I understand because he only has music for 1 hour per week and this takes it down to 45 minutes per week. 25 percent is pretty high. He asked me to explore other options. I did explain that if it weren't for MonaLisa's dance class Ratchet would be getting out at 3:15 for occupational therapy anyway. Fortunately I was able to change that to Wednesdays after school. So, I think I'll try to look into a playdate exchange for Ratchet so he can stay at school. I know there's an extended day program at his school, but I don't know if he can do it just one day each week.


However, look how cute MonaLisa's birthday invitations turned out. Since it's a sleepover, we decided to go for the sleeping bag effect. I think they turned out cute. And MonaLisa did the sewing by herself. I'm such a proud mommy seamstress.