Little Hand at a New School
New schools are so difficult for any child but when you have a child with a disability things become even scarier. Not only was my daughter starting second grade in a brand new school hundreds of miles from her own friends, but she was starting second grade with something no other child in the new school had. Only five fingers or as we call it, her little hand.
But we made this transition a little easier than you would think. Some of the things we did we did not even realize we were teaching her to help her cope with school. From birth we have taught her that no matter what, don’t be ashamed because God made her special for a reason.
We raised our daughter to have awesome self esteem. She does not let it bother her if someone stares at her in the store or if someone does not want to be her friend. If they don’t want to be her friend just because she only has five fingers she moves on and finds a better friend that likes her for who she is, not what she looks like.
From the time she started learning about getting her feelings hurt we taught her that some kids are going to say mean things because they have never seen someone as special as her. We have taught her it is not the children’s fault that they say mean things, they were just not taught right. Yes, when they are mean it hurts her feelings, she is not made of stone. She comes home, tells me all about it, and sometimes she even cries but she gets it all out and then we go for ice cream.
Just these few little things we have taught her without even knowing it have helped Haylee have an amazing 2nd Grade so far. I am happy to report that the new school was a hit. Our daughter loves her new school, she has made tons of new friends and everyone loves her little hand.
What have you instilled in your children? Have you talked to them about just because someone is a little different does not mean that they are not normal? Next time your child has questions about why that person looks or act different, take the time to teach your children about the reason people look or act that way. Tell them it is ok to be different and you should treat them just like you treat anyone else.
Tricia Gardner is a work at home mom of three great kids and an amazing husband. Tricia’s youngest daughter is in the second grade and was born without fingers on her left hand. Tricia loves to share their experiences of how they deal with being different and are still surviving elementary school. If you want to read more about their adventures check out http://littlehandbigheart.com
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