You've come a Long way, baby

Unfortunately, for the past few weeks we've been dealing with a biting situation at Mainspring.

One of Larkin's classmates has bitten her 4 times in the past 3 weeks. Once on the shoulder, twice on the arm and this morning she was bitten on the cheek.

Last week after the third incident, I had a meeting with the center director and she let me know she had observed the child in the classroom and they were meeting with the child's parents and taking appropriate steps to identify and solve the problem. I felt reassured.

Then this morning Matt and I had an emergency meeting with the center director, social worker and Larkin's teacher to discuss what had just happened and what immediate steps were being taken to stop the biting and ensure safety for Larkin and her classmates. A separate meeting was scheduled for this afternoon with Mainspring staff and the child's parents.

At the end of the day, I met with the center director again to learn what had come from the meeting with the child's parents. They suspect the child has a Sensory Processing Disorder that is causing the biting and other atypical behavior, much of it oral in nature. Mainspring has removed the child from the classroom until the child meets with an occupational therapist, a plan is put into place and a tool is identified to remedy the problem.

Today was an emotional day for all of us involved.

When Larkin's teacher called me to say Larkin had been bit again by the same child and that it had broken the skin, she sounded devastated.

Matt was livid and at our meeting was firm, measured and rational as he made clear our expectations: We will not continue to send Larkin to school in an unsafe environment.

When they met with the school, the child's parents were distressed not only for their child's situation but also for the pain that had been caused to Larkin and other children in her class.

At learning about today's incident I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I just wanted to see my baby girl's face and know that she was okay. I wanted the pain and bite mark and redness to quickly fade away. That sick feeling turned to sadness as I learned more about the situation.

I recognize that kids Larkin's age often bite because they don't know how else to express themselves. I know it is a phase that many kids go through, and that Larkin could have easily been a biter, too. (Still could be, I suppose.) Sadly, this is different.

Tonight as I rocked Larkin to sleep and reflected on the day I thought about how we have to deal with the fact that our daughter experienced pain and fear and has marks on her face that will hopefully, hopefully, disappear with time.

Then I thought about the child's parents rocking their child to sleep, thinking about the difficult steps they now have to take to properly diagnose and treat their child who has a problem they probably didn't see coming. In addition to the distress of learning of their child's likely condition, I'm sure they are feeling embarrassed and judged by their child's actions. Plus, their child can't return to Mainspring until the situation is resolved, and any parent knows how stressful that can be.

Surely a difficult day for everyone.

I can't publish this post without noting that I was very satisfied and impressed by Mainspring's quick actions to deal with the situation. The center director, social worker and Larkin's teacher were responsive and took action immediately. They clearly love Larkin and have all the children's best interests at heart.