disappointed :(

Nope- I didn't do a blog post yesterday. Quite frankly, my feelings were hurt and I was really disappointed. It's a shame that in the midst of Autism Awareness Month, I just found out that Riley was left out of a HUGE class project. Left out. Forgotten. Oopsie!

Every year, the kids' school (which is an awesome school with even more awesome teachers) has an Art Auction Extravaganza. Every class does a class project and it is auctioned off at the Extravaganza to raise money at the school. There have been some really creative things over the years. How do I know this since this is our first year? Because I am Homeroom Mom for Kylie's class and went to the meetings for the art auction. Her class made self- portraits and one of Kylie's sweet friend's grandmother sewed a quilt with all the sweet little faces on it. It's absolutely adorable!

Riley's class made a book. I got a group email from the Homeroom Mom yesterday with a couple of pictures of the book. It's really cute! Each child has a page with a picture of the child and something about the child. The outer cover has all of the class' fingerprints on it. Except one. Yep- Riley's! So, I emailed right back and asked if Riley was included in the project. No response. So, I emailed Riley's AWESOME teacher and asked her about it. Well, she was NOT happy and went straight to everyone involved for answers because Riley was most definitely left out of the page and the fingerprint!

I know that Riley doesn't go to his homeroom classroom but all the kids know him and know that he is in their class. He goes to music, p.e., and art with them. Last week, Riley's grandparents moved to our town and live close to the school. The little boy across the street came over and told us that Riley was in his class at school. In fact he said, "Riley is in my class. He goes to a special class during the day." He was really sweet and every time we see him, he yells, "Hi Riley!" So you would think........

Needless to say everyone is embarrassed and I got lots of "I'm sorry" emails. I know that nothing was done intentionally at all, but the fact of the matter is- I'm hurt! I hate feeling left out and it's even worse when it happens to your child. A child who already is left out of most things that kids his age are doing- birthday parties, church activities, little league sports, I could go on and on.

Riley's AWESOME teacher called me yesterday to say that she met with the assistant principal and they both agreed that to have the book at the auction without Riley is unacceptable. To add Riley and have it reprinted would take time and it wouldn't be ready for the auction on Friday night. I was told that they were going to have it reprinted and if it wasn't ready in time, people at the auction would just have to understand that they would get it later. When the Homeroom Mom contacted me last night, she mentioned that they didn't have time to reprint it but they would add Riley's laminated page to the last page. hmmmm

I have no idea what is going to happen but I just know that I am sad. Sad, embarrassed, dissappointed- all of them! So, I guess that I am going to have to be sarcastic and bitter on the Riley fact. Here goes:

Riley Fact:

Get ready to enter into a world of disappointment. Your heart is going to break for your child! You will need to grow a thick skin. You will need to stay on top of everything that you may want your child to be included in. You will need to learn that your child will never fit in with other kids his age. BUT- just know and believe that in 20 years, your child will most likely be honored for his genius mind and may even make it into history books. The best is yet to come and your child has yet to show you what all he can do. Your child is and will always be a child of God. Right now, that's all that matters.