A Day In The Life

As I've been answering questions about Ruby and Down syndrome this month, a few people suggested I write about a typical day for Ruby. So I chose Thursday, because why not. Last Thursday this was the breakdown of Ruby's day:

• 6:25AM - Lehr wakes Ruby up. She wakes up easily with a smile and many words, as usual. A trip to the bathroom and the changing out of pj's is in order.
• 6:35AM - Lehr and Ruby make their way downstairs. Lehr starts breakfast prep while Ruby helped. I get home from my run and make Ruby's lunch.
• 6:45AM - Ruby sits down to eat her cereal and requires much coaxing, as she doesn't usually like to eat so quickly after waking. (Yes, that means every school day we go through this.) I attempt to brush and fix her hair, which she fights because "I eating!" One or both of the big kids make their way downstairs in various states of dress and various states of grouchiness.
• 7:00AM - I rush Ruby through brushing her teeth so we can get in the car. Once in the car, we recite the months, count from 1-20, and the rules of school. The rest of the time I ask Ruby many questions that she should know answers to (How old are you, when is your birthday, where do you live, etc.)
• 7:15AM - I walk Ruby from our car to the school lobby. We meet one of her teachers who walks with her back to her general education classroom. (I return home and make all of the IEP-prep calls and send all of the IEP-prep emails and read all of the IEP-prep articles and studies and examples because it's IEP season which feels like it's tax season and I'm an accountant.)
• 7:20-8:00AM - Ruby works with her peers on morning work.
• 8-8:30AM - Ruby gets pulled out for small group (mostly one-on-one) instruction.
• 8:30-11:00AM - Ruby returns to her gen ed class to work with her peers.
• 11-11:30AM - Ruby's OT comes into the classroom and works with Ruby during center time, both on 'regular' centers and also some designed to help her fine motor skills (button, zippers, thera-putty, handwriting) 
• 11:30-12:00PM - Lunch - Ruby eats with her peers.
• 12:00-12:20PM - Recess. Towards the end of recess, Ruby gets pulled to work with her school speech therapist.
• 12:20-12:50PM - Speech
• 12:55-1:25PM - Ruby returns to her gen ed class for math.
• 1:30-1:50PM - Ruby and her typical class go to PE.
• 1:50PM - I pick Ruby up in the lobby of the school and we drive to Occupational Therapy. The drive only takes about 25 minutes, so we have a little extra time to kill before our appointment. Ruby eats snack and we talk about her day while we wait. I read through Ruby's school report to find that she struggled with keeping her hands to herself during gen ed work this morning. She also had an 'issue' with a few kids at recess. It's not clear what happened, and Ruby's not a huge help in relaying the sequence of events.
• 3:00-3:50PM - OT - Ruby works on a laying down swing, for balance, pushing herself on her stomach by using her hands, which targets her shoulder muscles, writing on a wall board for better finger placement, thera-putty to work the fingers, crawling through an obstacle course to help with torso/upper body strength, and finally throwing a ball into a bowl for focus, accuracy and arm strength.
• 4:00PM - Ruby and I drive to the middle school to pick up the big kids. She 'reads' in the backseat until we get there. We have 15 minutes before XC practice is over, so we sing a few school songs and go over our sight words.
• 4:30PM - Eli and Maddux (and a few other carpoolers) enter the car and it's a loud crazy drive home. 
• 4:45PM - We get home and Ruby's speech therapist pulls in behind us. She works with Ruby and I on EVERYTHING from tongue placement to sentence structure to working independently...this therapist is my 'glue', as I referenced on FB this week.
• 5:15PM - Daddy comes home and sneaks upstairs to not disrupt Ruby's focus. (Good man.)
• 5:45PM - Our therapist leaves and I start dinner. Ruby alternates between playing and helping me cut vegetables. Once dinner is cooking, Ruby and I go over her sight words a few more times. Then we work on a few worksheets for practice. Dad and Eli leave for soccer.
• 6:15 - The girls and I eat a quick dinner. Maddux and Ruby play while I put away the dishes. The girls end up going to their room and getting into the dress-up stuff. As I'm working in the kitchen, they come down three times in three different outfits. Great for practice putting on and taking off clothes - not great for the state of their bedroom floor.
• 6:30PM - Maddux works on homework and Ruby and I pull out the Manga-Tiles and work on pulling them apart and differentiating color and shape. 
• 6:45PM - The girls and I go out front to play. Maddux hangs out with friends while Ruby and I play with the tee, bat and ball. Again and again we work on swinging and hitting the ball. Then we pull out the 4-square ball and practice bouncing and catching. It is not something she has down yet, at all.
• 7:10PM - The girls and I go inside and head upstairs. I give Ruby a bath while Maddux works on homework again. Once Ruby is out, we brush teeth, use the bathroom, and change into PJ's. No nap in the car today, so my girl is exhausted and will likely fall asleep during the first book.
• 7:20PM - Ruby and I snuggle in her bed and I read a book to her. Six pages in and she's cross-eyed. I'm out of her room in five minutes.
• 7:30PM on - SNOREFEST

Not the most exciting account, but a good reminder that Ruby's days look both very similar to any other child's, and also very different. In general, she has the same structure, but how some of those time slots are filled can be different.

The best way I can describe it is that Ruby rarely has a wasted moment. While she sees it all as play and loves the one-on-one time I give her when we are working on the many skills we need to work on, Ruby rarely gets a chance to just play: it's all very intentional. Chalk becomes a game of testing her for colors or body parts, card games are used to work on her number awareness and same/different/matching concepts, kitchen play can double as speech with the many items to identify and 'commands' she gives me, story time is a full-circle opportunity to ask questions about the story, point out colors or shapes, count objects, and recognize sight words. Ruby works hard, all day every day, just to try and bridge the developmental delay gap. And yet she dances through it like it's the most fun thing in the world.