On Wednesday we met with Kayla’s new teacher. Coming on the heals of the Director retiring I had called back to ask if the new Director could join us for the meeting. But…the old director answered and to be honest, I just did not want to deal with her. So I asked her to contact the Teacher Assistant to let her know of Kayla’s appointment time so if she was available she could join us. She had told me she would be willing to do this at the end of last school year. I figured I’d seek out the new Director when I got there.

Apparently, I now have the reputation of “Difficult Parent” because without even asking, the new Director did join the meeting. Nothing they did or said told me they found me to be difficult, but us Mommy’s just know these things. And I figured I’d better get used to it because it will only get more difficult when she leaves private school for public school (*shudder*).

The meeting went really well. Her new teacher is very nice. She is not new to teaching, but is new to Montessori and is in the process of getting certified. She has a daughter who is attending the school as well. She said she has dealt with food allergies before, and she seemed very open and understanding to the whole thing. Both her and the Director had general questions for me about Kayla – when was she diagnosed, what happens, etc. All things that I think are good for them to know. Her TA (teacher’s assistant) was great in helping to get across all they’d done last year. I made sure to tell them how well things went last year and that I was very pleased with how things were handled in the classroom. They will continue not serving blatant dairy in her class – cheese, yogurt, cheese-its, gold fish, etc, etc. Again, this was a voluntary move on their part which makes me very happy. The teacher asked how they handled situations where parents brought in cupcakes, etc. She had also already been given a copy of the instructions I had given them last year.

I also found out (which I didn’t know last year) that they had sent a notice home to the other parents. The new Director told me that all the other parents know about Kayla (I gathered this from some conversations with other Moms) and that even during the favorite snack month (where the kids get a day to bring in a snack), no one brought in cheese or yogurt. It’s always nice to hear when other parents pitch in to keep your child safe.

Kayla also really liked her new teacher and she’s excited to go back. I can tell though this year will be hard on Alysa. On the way to the school, she told me, “Mommy, but I can’t got to school without my backpack.” I explained to here that Kayla wasn’t staying at school and that she will not be going to school with Kayla this year. She broke into tears and said, “I want to go to school.” It’s going to be a looong year.