The hills are alive with the sound of... acceptance!

Much to the chagrin of most of the men in my life, I have always loved The Sound of Music. Ever since I can remember, I've known every word to the songs, could quote random points in the movie, and can even say that its the only movie I own on VHS and DVD. So right now, I am reminded of one Music quote that seems relevant to our recent drama with day care:

"Reverend Mother always says when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window" (Maria to Captain Von Trapp - look it up!)

After our most recent reject from (what I thought was our last hope for getting Will into) a daycare, I sort of launched into Super Mom mode... there had to be a solution! Thanks, Aunt Heidi, for all your words of Hallmark wisdom, too... it helped!

I used my resources on Facebook to ask around about some of our NICU nurses, special educators, laid off friends, etc to see if they would be willing and able to care for Will for 6 months. I called special ed care centers that don't take children until they are 3 years old to see if they could break their policies for us. I even called and emailed all of the day care centers that had rejected us, to see if we could come up with a creative solution. No stone left unturned, no pride, no qualms.

The last center I contacted was the one that told me weeks ago that that they had 40 kids Will's age on the waiting list ahead of us. I went straight to the director. Left her a long drawn out, honest, raw (did I say long?) message chronicling where we'd been, what I had done, what we were looking for, and asking if we could come up with some creative solution.

I didn't know if I'd get a call back, I probably sounded a little desperate and scary in my message.

But she called me back that night. Baby crying in the background. Had I appealed to her mommy side? Anyway, she said she thought we might be able to come up with something, that she'd pull Will's file in the morning and call me back.

And she did. She said that she had to double check, but she thought they had one special needs slot open in the toddler classroom (which typically kids age-out of when they hit 2 and a half). Did I mind if we put Will in a classroom that was slightly below his age group? We do not mind. Will's never been in a day care center before, so this is going to be new and scary for him... in addition, his latest developmental test showed that he was between 9 months and 1 year in development. This could work out really well, I told her.

I told her all of Will's medical history, his various therapists and doctor appointments, all of his equipment, the g-tube... and she remained unfazed. And then she said it.

"We can help you."

I almost cried. The assistant director called me back later in the day to tell me that Will's name was on the list for the toddler classroom, and that I'd need to stop by to drop off a $75 registration deposit and pick up some paperwork. In my mind, I can't do that soon enough!! I am so nervous about it falling through like some of our other plans!!

So Will starts in his 5 star, inclusive day care (meaning it is typically developing kids and special needs kids together) on September 8. Oma leaves on September 10, so this is perfect!

Just unbelievable... I am kind of still in shock. This is a long time coming, and a more perfect solution than we could have hoped for!! I did want to specially thank LHH for being interested in being Will's care provider in the case that this didn't work out... we all really appreciate it!