Tomorrow starts the first day of first grade for my not so little Rose. This will be the first time for her to be gone all day long. In order to help her prepare we have been practicing how to have lunch. Rose loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She'd probably eat them for every meal if she could. So we are planning on sending her with a lunch to school, but with her sensory processing disorder new things can quickly become overwhelming for her. And to honestly admit it, there are a lot of things I've done over the last year for her to speed up the process rather than dealing with the struggle. My fault.
To help her cope with her first day we have been spending the last four days practicing how to have lunch. We've packed everything we plan on actually giving her for school inside her lunch box and zip it close then put it on the table for her. This allows her to practice zipping open her bag, pulling up the string cheese, opening the yoghurt or Jell-O, and opening up the Ziploc baggies with her sandwich. We've also got her boxed fruit/veggie juice so that she can practice opening the straw and poking it into the container. She's had some minor struggles, but she's been doing great overall.
This practice helps her get used to the routine, identify the things she can throw out after lunch and what she needs to bring home, plus helps her with her fine motor skills improving her finger strength. We're hoping this will make her much more comfortable and capable to conquer her first experiences with lunch hour.
Good luck, Boo! We love you.
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