24 April 2014

Of the surreal nonfirst day of school for Little Pb

Special needs kids get therapy through Early Intervention, an agency depending from the state. This agency covers services until the day a kid turns three, when he/she will be transferred to the public school system, for us CPS. Before that you have to have a meeting with therapists and bureucrats to determine which services CPS will have to provide for your child. We had that meeting, called IEP, a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday we received the placement letter. With that in one hand, and little Pb in the other, his backpack and blanket on tow, I drove to the school today, eager to see him start attending an oral/deaf program. 
To my surprise, when we arrived, we were told that his spot had been taken by another girl the day before. There I was, six months pregnant, with a toddler intent on climbing the walls or running away, a letter in my hand saying that they had to take them, and speechless after been told that they cannot. I was already quite skeptical about the whole CPS thing, but I didn't expect this kind of mess. 
Then, the surreal factor came in. As I was trying to figure out what was going on with this very helpful ladies, while doing my best to keep my kiddo from turning on the fire alarm, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel stormed in the office, all smiles, and handshakes, and cuteness towards the little fire alarm chaser. I guess that he was visiting the principal, but in the middle of a terrible morning, and out of CNN's Chicagoland, there he was, making me laugh for the first time in hours. Oh, the weird and unexpected...
We came home, and finally they fixed the problem and told me to bring him tomorrow again so he can start. But I will keep posting about our adventures in CPSland, which is an interesting part of Chicago.

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