I invited every single kindergartner to Imma's birthday party.
I invited a lot of our family friends, new friends from school, teachers and administrators who work with her. I invited a lot of people. If I didn't invite you and you'd like to come, message me and we'll make it happen. I have been working on invitations and decorations for over a month and I will be working on them until the very last minute.
I have booked a petting zoo, a bounce house, and Alice will be here (It's an Alice in Wonderland party.)
I have bought new apothecary jars for the Candy Bar.
So far, the reaction from parents has been something along the lines of, "Did you make these invitations??" Yes. Yes, I did. "I can't believe you wrote their names in calligraphy!" Yes, yes I did.
The reaction from the kids I have talked to is, "I'm going to Imma's birthday party!!" I've heard from parents that it's been more of a demand than a request.
The reaction from my very close friends and family members has been a little more like, "Are you insane??" and I guess they have a point. So let me attempt to explain my thinking.
Earlier in the year, I often heard other students talking about Imma, and not in a good way. She has been called "mean," "weird," "different," "trouble-maker," and those are just the things I have
heard. While I will admit she is different, she is none of those other things. As the year has progressed, a lot of that has changed, though I do still hear other children make comments like, "She doesn't talk to anyone," or "She only swings at recess and she won't play with us." That's better, but it's not good enough.
Imma has recently started reaching out to other children besides her friends in her class. She has three or four friends in her class that she adores and they adore her, too. I refer to one little girl as her best friend because I know, if Imma could express such an abstract concept, that's what she would say, though I'm not sure the other girl would say Imma is her best friend. I know she would definitely say she is her friend though. She is constantly looking out for Imma, as are two or three other children in her class, and I love that. I want other children to have the opportunity to get to know Imma the way that these children have. Now that she is reaching out to some of these other children, I wanted to give them the opportunity to come and play with her, too.
But it goes beyond that. I want Imma to be in a situation where she can feel completely comfortable (at her home) doing something that she loves (bounce houses and petting animals!) where she will have the opportunity to share this with other children. We live in a small town. These kids will be with each other for the next 12 years. Most of them will go all the way through high school together. I want her to always be in a situation where she has a friend. I don't know who will be in her class next year but if she knows most of the kids in her grade, then, hopefully, she will always feel like there is someone nearby who can help her if she needs help.
I also want to know the other parents. I want them to know us, to see what we are about, to make them feel comfortable enough to ask the questions they need to ask or find out from talking to us what is going on with Imma so that they don't make assumptions. I know from watching the other parents and coaches at softball that some people want to know what the nature of her disability is but they haven't asked. As I have gotten to know some of the other parents better, we've talked about it and that has been helpful. I want to know that the other parents will be supportive of her and help her out when she needs it, particularly in situations when I'm not there or I can't help her. We had a mighty village in McKinney but our village here is not as strong yet so I am continuing to strengthen those connections and I hope to create new ones.
I also have a hard time letting go of all of our friends from our old life. I want to share these special occasions with all of the people that we have always shared them with. So of course I invited them as well.
I also know that, whenever we have a party, usually less than a quarter of the people we invite are able to make it. This party happens to be the day before Mother's Day so it's very likely that some people won't be able to come. I don't expect 150 people to show up. If they do, that will be great, but I think we may have 25 kids--and hopefully there parents will stay. I can live with that.
As for the insane amount of decorations I am hand making, well, that's just my budding Martha Stewart. I know I didn't have to hand make her invitations, address them in calligraphy spend 10 hours making various photo props today, etc. But it sure was fun!
So, that's my explanation--take it or leave it. At the end of the day, as long as Imma has fun, it'll be worth all of the time, trouble, and goat poo!
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| All day today, she kept saying, "make Alice, make Alice!" |
