Favorite Hannah Picture

Favorite Hannah Picture
"Yes, the park!"

Hannah Ballerina

Hannah Ballerina

Play Time

Play Time
"Go super fast!"

Hannah's Room

Hannah's Room

Happier Hannah

Happier Hannah

Hannah sleeping 4-13-10

Hannah sleeping 4-13-10

Preschool Friend's Art

Preschool Friend's Art
Yeah! Friends!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

School Troubles

Hannah has started Kindergarten! She was so excited! Big kid school like her brothers. Finally, getting to play with little kids again. There was so much talk about what friends she would have and if she could invite friends for sleep overs. I was struggling a bit with having my baby go to school. I now have all school age children. Weird.

Hannah's hair has grown in so much in such a short time. I think it looks like an adorable pixie cut. It has also grown a different color! It is far lighter. She used to have hair so dark brown that is sometimes looked black. Now, she seems to have a light ash brown color.

Unfortunately, for Hannah, what the kids at school noticed most was, she has very short hair. She was coming home every day telling me of something else a child had either done and said to her that was hurtful or mean. The chants of "Look, it's a boy in a dress" hurt the most. Luckily, the teacher we have this year, is just fantastic. She has been very helpful. Hannah is learning to trust her, that if she tells, it can be made better. I called the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and they sent an information packet with a Charlie Brown video for the kids to watch.

We watched the video in class with the kids. It was short but effective. In the video you see a little girl discover she has leukemia. When she is able to come back to school, she is bald. A boy on the playground starts making fun of her and the other children come to her aid.

We had a discussion afterward where the kids could ask questions. I was so pleased to see what an impact the show had made. There where lots of questions about why hair falls out. One boy raised his hand to tell me, he thought the mean boy in the video was a bully. That got other kids asking why someone would do that. This gave me a chance to tell them how some people react to new or different things by making fun of it. I explained that it is important to think about how someone might feel about the things you say or do to them. That same little boy ( thank god for this kid!) said, "Just like when the kids tease Hannah?". After I responded, yes just like that, he looked around the room and said "Well, I hope they don't do that anymore!" Ahem!

This was just last week, so I will have to wait and see if this was enough to help. Hannah does have a some friends in class regardless of the other issues and hopefully now, a little more understanding.

8 comments:

  1. They grow up so fast it will make your head spin. :-)
    Enjoy every second of it. :-)

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  2. I've just discovered your blog and I have a feeling I will be reading for hours. Thanks so much for sharing. The photos are beautiful, you must be so proud to have such a happy little girl. I wish you all the luck in the world
    XxX

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  3. God Carrie she looks so great. I'm sure it will all pass soon - sounds like you nipped it in the bud. Good luck for this week. x

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  4. Hi Carrie!
    Thank you for the update on Hannah. We have been thinking of her. I think she looks absolutely adorable with her short hair! What a great idea to bring the video in for the class to see and take questions from the kids. Hopefully that did the trick and the teasing will stop. Keep us posted.
    All the best,
    Diane

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  5. Wow. I am shocked that the teacher didn't put a stop to the teasing and bullying right away. I guess ignorance comes in all ages.

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  6. It sounds like you did the best thing to work this out. I hope it's easier from now on!

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  7. Hannah is such an incredible girl who is lucky to have a loving cast of family and friends. I am so happy she is doing so well.
    Blessings.

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  8. Hi Hannah,
    Boys can be so mean, but I know from experience that most of us get to be a little nicer once we grow up ;) Hopefully, you've already found some little friends who accept you exactly for who you are. We already know you're super tough, so just keep listening to your mom and your teacher and you'll have fun at school soon! Just wanted to say 'thanks' for updating, I hadn't been by for a while but I think about Hannah from time to time (only knowing you from the WS blog). Wanted to tell you you remind me a mini Audrey Hepburn now :) I love your short hair! And what's wrong with those boys? Didn't they get the memo that long hair on boys is the thing right now? They're so far behind ;) Cheers! Ben

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