Playing Hooky

Sorry for the long delay without an update! Juggling kids in two elementary schools plus two at home has been a bit crazy at the end of the school year!

As many of you know, Gage had to move to a new school after spring break because of construction in his ‘old’ elementary school. Thankfully, the adjustment was very smooth. Not surprisingly, he is very resilient and doesn’t fight the things that can’t be changed. So, he went willingly and with a good attitude to his new school each morning…at least the mornings he felt well enough to go. And, the school and his teacher rolled out the red carpet to make the transition smooth and easy for us. I know Gage really enjoyed getting to make new friends and experience the new traditions and ways of another school.

Still, we love our ‘real’ elementary school, and have taken a couple opportunities to play ‘hooky’ so Gage could see his friends on days when the kids spent time outside…and away from the construction inside. It was so sweet on field day and at the end-of-year party to see him reunited with the friends he spent most of the year with. For me, it’s sweet to see both his friends and his teacher light up when they see him.  And, the feelings are mutual…and easy to see as Gage smiles and talks with his friends.

As we’ve finished out this year, I’ve realized that we’ve actually made it through one of the biggest challenges of Gage’s treatment…juggling chemo & school on a daily basis. From the beginning, we knew that he would be on chemo every day for all of kindergarten and first grade. And, the weight of making decisions each day was heavy.

Should I let him come home early when he called saying he didn’t feel great? Should I push through and see if he could stay another hour and finish the language arts portion of the day? Should I send him at all on mornings he felt crummy from the previous nights’ chemo? What about the weeks that were extra hard with steroids…should we even try to send him at all?

It was a daily challenge to answer those questions…and to know how to best balance what he needed to learn during those years with the reality of how he was feeling. And, knowing that each choice set the precedent for a future decision also weighed heavily upon us as we sought to strike that balance.

But, now he’s finished kindergarten and first grade. And, he’ll finish treatment on September 17th 2010, after only 4 weeks of second grade. There will certainly still be medical challenges and transitions in second grade, but nightly chemo (and it’s many side effects) won’t be one of them. And, it feels good to know that we’ve mostly finished juggling school and chemo…and that this summer, he can just be home with us on the days he feels crummy.

Here are a few pictures from the fun times he had reuniting with his friends…

Gage carrying the class sign at field day…

Slam dunk! (Ok…maybe he had a little help…)

Avery with her classmates at field day… She broke her arm last month and had the cast removed the day before field day…and wouldn’t leave home without the sling…just in case!

Go girl!

Good times with friends…

Sweet Ellie…headed to kindergarten in the fall…

Hanging out with her friends while the big kids had field day…

Kindergarten here we come!

And, of course, Wesley….always tagging along!

Gage also played baseball this spring (at least for the 2 games that he felt well enough to play in…). And, he loved it!

Thumbs up from 2nd base after a big double!

Watch him go!

Good times…

Also, mark your calendar for Sat., Sept 25, 2010…it’s the date of the big celebration party we’re hosting when Gage is finished! It will be a fun family event…and the more the merrier! We’ll share details later, but it will take the place of the event we’ve done the previous two years in June on the anniversary of Gage’s diagnosis.

Zephaniah 3:17  ”The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

As always, thanks for checking in and for walking this road with us.

RH