shining her light ...

 friday afternoon made me smile.

well, it wasn't friday afternoon that made me smile ... it was Zoey on friday afternoon.

I promised (over on instagram) to share the whole story, so here it is ...

Zoey had an appointment friday afternoon to have an ultrasound of a bump on her back.

no real biggie, she seems to have a lot of appointments for one thing or another,

and we're in an appointment heavy "season" right now!

so we got there quite early and had time to just sit and wait ...

but, that's not really Zoey's style - unless I bring the stroller along, which I didn't

because I'm trying to work on her independence from the stroller.

anyways (this might get really long) ...

she had her Anna doll and was pretty content to play with that and dance around with her 

doll and "lie down" (as she says) on a bench that she insisted was a bed.

there was a young woman there who seemed quite entertained by Zoey's playing and

dancing and I thought that was pretty sweet!

after a while, a mom with two little girls came in.

Zoey was in the middle of the waiting room just spinning around with Anna ...

it was clear right away that this mom was probably having a rough day.

these two little girls were just sort of standing there,

and that's when it happened ...

Zoey reached out and took  the little girl's hand.

she then put Anna's (the doll) hand into the little girls hand and formed a circle with

the three of them: Zoey, the doll, and the little girl.

round and round they went, "dancing" with Anna ... it was so sweet.

soon the other little girl joined in.

as the mom sat down, she looked at me across the room and smiled.

I mean, a whole hearted smile.

my heart skipped a beat.

my little girl was shining her light and bringing smiles to the faces of adults

who a few minutes before looked annoyed, upset, and just plain bored!

this playing went on for a good fifteen minutes,

until the lady was called back and the little girls left.

it was precious, watching my sweet Zoey interact with these two little girls ...

it was surprising and funny, watching my fiesty daughter be quite bossy - and even more surprising

to watch the little girls just follow her lead and do everything she said!  haha!!!
before it was our turn to go back, the young woman said to me "she just made my day" -
finding Zoey quite adorable!!
we had our appointment and Zoey did great!

we ended up leaving at the same time as the mom & girls - and all the little girls

were saying goodbye to each other.

and that was it.

but that wasn't it.

you see, I've been having some inner struggles lately.

I've been feeling down because I don't understand why my daughter can't 

be accepted the way I feel she should be.  

I feel frustrated reading about how other children with down syndrome

are in "gen ed" classrooms and have "full inclusion" ...

but the district we're in wants to put Zoey off in a "special day class" where she'll

spend nearly all of her time only with other children who have "special needs".

why?

why don't they see what I see?

my daughter ...

knows shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, heart, oval, star, diamond, octagon ...

knows colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, gray, black, brown, white, silver, gold ...

knows her name: she can recognize it, she can tell you how to spell it, and she can write it ...

she can also identify a few other random letters and numbers ...

her speech has improved leaps & bounds over the past year ...

she has made amazing progress with potty training ...

she has made progress with several gross motor skills ...

she has made progress with several fine motor skills ...

she loves to draw and color ...

she loves to learn and seems to pick up on things quickly ...

she loves to play with other children ...

I know she's not where a "typical" five year old going into kindergarten would be ...

but that leaves me questioning - does that mean those other children are?

is she behind, even within the realm of her "special needs"?

the past two weeks have kinda blown me away.

I mentioned in my previous post that some of our favorite instagram-ers (that's a word, I say so)
live right here in our area - and, yes, for whatever reason that is awesome to me!!

I went and saw "Where Hope Grows" and was amongst a room of mamas and families

that all love someone with down syndrome - that was amazing!

and afterward I got to finally meet some of these ladies I have only known online ...

and after chatting with the lady that introduced me to this group,

combined with reading I've done and observations I've made,
and then this day and what I witnessed - which truly touched my heart as a mama ...

I've come to the conclusion that no, Zoey is not any sort of exception.

our kids are no different than other kids.

they're each going along at their own pace.

they're each finding their wings ...

they ALL deserve to fly.

they were ALL meant to fly. 

  

there's a lot of changes occurring at our house in the upcoming months ...

one of those being that Zoey will be coming home for kindergarten next year!

I pray that I can give her everything that she needs.

I pray God gives me the strength and wisdom to seek out what is

best for her education and to do everything I possibly can to help her on that path!

I pray wisdom for the people at the charter school we go through

and that they also will provide everything they should for Zoey's education and needs!

I pray that God will provide us with friends to spend some time with!

(my best friend is about to move and so are our neighbors - leaving my boys without any close friends)

I pray that my children attending public school will be safe and will learn and thrive! 

I pray.

I pray that the limits that some people put on children like Zoey will one day vanish.

I pray that she will be accepted, just as she is.

I pray that everyone will see her and those like her for the amazing people they are!

I pray that.

and I thank God, every day, for blessing us with Zoey Grace!!!