The other side of the fence

I'm thankful for this view from the other side of the fence.



For years I was the one evaluating children, the one having to talk to parents and tell them there was something "different" about their kids. I *thought* I understood how they felt.



I didn't.



Even when you know something's wrong/different with your child, hearing it from the professional makes it somehow TRUE. (Even if it's not, but that's a subject for another post - I'm just talking about parental feelings here.) Whereas before I could make all sorts of excuses - she's tired, she's hungry, she's mad at her sister, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm mad at her sister ;-), or maybe I'm just a lousy teacher ... NOW, the excuses are gone. The wool I was trying to pull over my eyes has been taken away, and now I've got to do something.



There was so much information given to me in such a short time that I feel like I've been kicked out of a plane door. I was handed the parachute, but I wasn't told how to put on the darn thing or pull the rip-cord. Right now, I can't even FIND the evaluations. I either gave them to my dh or (gasp) left them in her waiting room or something.



At least I know dd comes by her ADD honestly. :-P



I also feel a little unsettled because she suggested several books she recommending for teaching things such as writing. Maybe they ARE great, but I have never heard of them and I am used to making my OWN decisions about curriculum. I hope I don't find myself too stubborn to properly teach something I don't like for whatever reason.



And could somebody please tell me where I'm going to find 5 extra hours in my day (3 for learning all this stuff and 2 for direct, intense instruction with my dd?) It's funny that I can pull all this back to my favorite subject, DECLUTTERING, but when we were all at the eval follow-up, I kept thinking that I would have to drastically reduce the number of things and diversions we have in the house in order to have time and mental space to be successful in this.