Operation: Bring Cameron Back to Neely started when I realized how tired I was of having kids at 2 different schools. It only took a couple days of waiting for her at the bus stop for 30 minutes with 4 kids in the car who were trying to be patient and all they could do was bug each other for me to put my foot down and make this thing happen. I decided right there and then, we are done. Towne Meadows and the Self-Contained Gifted Program has been a great school for Cams and she has loved it but with a new baby coming this year, I needed all of my chicks together so I wouldn't be driving around from place to place.
The sealing deal was when I learned that since the district had cut some of the bus routes, they had to combine routes which made her the 7th stop on her bus getting in a whole 40 minutes after school got out. It wasn't fair to Cams, it wasn't fair to the rest of our family.
I called Neely asking if there was any room in 5th grade for her and surprisingly there was! That started the wheels turning. When I talked to Cams about it, she was a little teary at first but soon got over it and accepted the fact that wherever she goes, it will be great. I love her for that. She has a sweet little attitude about life and sees the positive in every situation. We still weren't 100% sure it was going to happen so I sent her off to Towne Meadows the next day.
As the day wore on, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind and I had prayed to know what to do. I called Neely again to ask if we could get Cams into her cousin Nate's class and there was! There was even room in the orchestra. It seemed like everything was too easy and I wasn't having to fight anything to get what we needed. That was when I called John and told him to please go down to Towne Meadows and tell Cams we're taking her out and be ready for the flood gates. Once again, she proved us wrong and was very sweet about the whole thing when John got there. I think she knew it was coming so she said her goodbyes, cleaned out her desk, and they were off.
She came home happy like nothing had ever happened.
The next day was so much fun for all of us. We got to have everyone in carpool, sing our hearts out, no bus drops, and I walked her up to the office and signed her back in. A few of the teachers said, "Hi Cameron!" And Cams said at lunch she could hear kids whisper her name which made her feel like they remembered her.
Since the big move, Cams and I have talked about how good this move has felt. Even though we loved Towne Meadows, it was too big of a sacrifice for our whole family and Neely feels so much better right now. It's funny how the Spirit can keep those little thoughts/promptings in your head until you figure it all out and then with the peaceful feeling afterwards, you know you did the right thing. It could be said the other way too, if you had an awful feeling afterwards, you'd know you'd need to change your decision.
Here's our first carpool day back to Neely. Way to go Cams! We all love you!
