Help your child get ready to jump into a new environment!
Once upon a time my whole being surrounded the most wonderful little boy in the world. He was magic and could tap out tickly messages on my tummy. We knew every single thing about one another. And we were totally in love. I knew just what he needed and he grew. Much of that changed in a matter of scary, crazy hours. My angel boy was being pushed from his safe and secure haven with me with kicks and panic. We were in “TRANSITION,” they said. “Uncomfortable!”
Several hours later he was back in my arms, tired and sleepy and peaceful… He had successfully survived his first day at school.
Parents with whom I’ve worked over the years have expressed the whole gamut of emotions and thoughts as their little person transitioned to a new experience.
“Oh, my gracious! She’s going to school! I am going to lose my baby to some stranger!”
“What if they don’t understand what she needs—how to help her?”
“What if they don’t realize that he is the most spectacular little person on the face of this earth?”
And hardest of all…”What if someone makes fun of him?”
This is scary on so many levels. You’ve been your child’s best specialists for years. For many parents that is the role that defines them. Parents wonder who the boss of their child will be now. “I have the Ph.D. (Parents’ History Degree) about my child and I don’t want someone who doesn’t even know my child’s name to tell me how best to help.”
The identity of many parents was as Ladybug’s mother/father. And now they have the scary yet exciting prospect of figuring out what will define them now.
Transition is a big deal. And we deal with it from the womb to the end of living. Every part of life has to transition from the one before. Right now our little person is transitioning from the routine that we parents set up to the whole new world of SCHOOL. This is a big deal. I’ve worked with parents over many years who have made discoveries about how to navigate the transition experience. Here are some of their thoughts on Getting Your Child Who Is Blind or Visually Impaired Ready for Preschool. I hope you’ll share your own here, as well.