Alyssa seldom gets time with both of us. One of us is usually with Courtney. So joe and I made it a priority that at least one day of each week of Courtney’s summer school we would do something special with her. You could see the joy and peace in her face the whole time.

I’m trying hard to understand where all her recent behaviors are coming from. I’m probably letting the special needs teacher in me analyze too much. But here’s the think. Alyssa is a little 5 year old who has to adjust to some pretty big kid type things. She’s got a sister who requires 100% attention. A sister who has special people coming in and out of the house to work with just her. She’s being carted around to therapies. Her sister destroys her things, scratches her, and we won’t tell her sister to stop making the noises that drive her absolutely over the edge. That’s a lot for a 5 year old to understand.

So on special outings like today, watching her get to be just a little 5 year old is definitely special.