Pondering our options

With Brooke's OIT start date creeping closer everyday, we've begun to wonder what we can do to make this next year flow as smoothly as possible.  I've been seriously considering homeschooling Brooke for 2nd grade, while she goes through the therapy program.  There are days when I feel really optimistic about it and I think "I'm definitely going to do it" and there are other days when I feel like it would be such an enormous task, that there is no way I can possibly do it.  Our playbook is full of different options... but which one would be best for our family?

Homeschooling makes so much sense.  In addition to traveling to Raleigh every other week for dose increases, we will also have to go back to adjust her dose every time she gets sick.  Homeschooling would facilitate better health and less trips to NC *hopefully.  Little brother has the option to start pre-K this next year and if he goes, it will be his first encounter with public school.  Whenever he starts school, be it this Aug or Aug 2014, I anticipate that he will be getting sick pretty frequently.  If he gets sick, so will Brooke... and then back to Raleigh we go.   Keeping him home and homeschooling him (pre-K) right along with Brooke will be a challenge, but it would be worth it to avoid the illnesses and extra trips to NC, not to mention the added expense of the illnesses and the cost of travel back and forth.

Homeschooling also makes sense for the obvious reasons; like no longer having to worry about whether or not other parents are packing PB&J's and nutty snacks for their children to consume around my child.  Despite the school district sending home several pleading letters last school year, asking parents to please pack any snack but nutty snacks, parents still packed them.  If she were at home with me, my anxiety level would be next to nil.  I wouldn't have to worry about the fact that B's classroom is NOT a peanut/tree nut free zone.  I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not B touches a sink faucet with peanut butter on the handle, or whether or not her teacher remembered to inform the sub about B's life threatening allergies.  I wouldn't have to worry about teachers eating nut containing snacks and then holding B's hand as they walk her out to the pickup line.  I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not B feels left out b/c she has to sit at a separate table away from her class.  I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not her teacher is considering every little possible thing that can go wrong, like I do.  I wouldn't have to deal with her teacher thinking I am some over-reacting-hovering-helicopter mom any time I ask a question about how my child is being protected from offending foods.  I wouldn't have to obsess over the fact that the school nurse insists on keeping B's life saving epi-pen locked away in a cabinet, where only she and one other person have access to the keys.  Life would be great!

Brooke is such an eager learner, so I know she would be great at being home-schooled.  I already have her doing simple multiplication, adding/subtracting multi-digit numbers, learning cursive etc... but the thought of homeschooling terrifies me for the simple fact that I am not as disciplined or organized as I need to be in order to be her teacher.  I don't even know what to teach?  I know there are different curriculum offered to home-schooling parents... but the thought of researching them all and picking "the best", seems like a daunting task.  I already spend too much time online (and feel guilty about it)... so adding to it by researching how to home-school, planning lesson plans, searching for activities, etc. already have me overwhelmed and discouraged.

However, if I failed to teach her what she needed to know... I wouldn't be heartbroken if she had to repeat the 2nd grade.  She is the youngest (because of her late summer birthday) and the smallest in her class.  We had the option of starting her in K-garten or keeping her home another year, but decided to start her because she was academically ready.  She is one smart cookie!

There is one more huge factor that may sway our decision to go ahead and home-school.  My husband has a 3 month deployment to Mississippi coming up.  We've already had more than 12 weeks of separation this year due to new job training and Air Guard duty, so the thought of spending 3 more months away from each other is unbearable.  If B were being home-schooled, it would mean we could go with him, or at least be with him every other week.  I could just as easily home-school her in MS as I could home-school her here at home.

The major drawback to all of this, is the fact that I will have to delay returning to my career for another year. I'm not quite certain what that would mean for me.  I am a dental hygienist, and I'm not sure how willing dentists are to employ a hygienist who has been out of her field for over 2 years.  Will I forget my clinical skills or my knowledge about dental health?  Would I be able to jump right back in... like riding a bike?  I'm sure I could, but is there anyone out there that would give me that chance?

Ultimately, I hope we make the right decision... not only for Brooke, but for our entire family, too.  I've been praying  over the options, and would love input and thoughts from anyone else who reads my blog.

We have a date!

Good news!  Brooke is scheduled to start OIT in July!  We had the option to start in June, but with my husband being out of town for training in June... it was a much better decision to wait until July.  I am nervous, excited, hopeful, and stressed.  It is terrifying to think that the doctor will be feeding her minuscule amounts of the very food we've been adamantly avoiding for so long.  Not every child can handle OIT.  Some have complications that are bothersome enough that they have to pull out of the therapy before they can become desensitized.  But, we have to remember that there are so many who have gone before Brooke and have become successfully desensitized.  I hope with all my heart, that the road that Brooke travels down, will be easy and complication free.  She so deserves a chance at normalcy, and so do we.  The next two years will be very hard, but there is a very bright light at the end of this tunnel!