The truth.... Madeleine's self-esteem is pretty low right now. She isn't feeling too great about having a leggie.She is having multiple anxiety attacks (panic attacks) throughout the day that makes life difficult. She doesn't feel connected to peers and is wishing she was someone else. This is pretty shitty for a normal nine year old kid. This is really shitty for a kid that has a limb difference.
However, today was a big day. Today Madeleine took a test. A big test- 2.5 hours. A test that will be submitted to private schools for another data point to see if she is a good fit for their program.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a public school teacher. I *believe* in public schools. I believe in the power of the people and the neighborhood. And, I have a kid that feels like such an outlier in her public school. She is quite miserable right now and I am left to find alternative solutions. So we are applying to 'independent schools.' Schools that cost a lot of money and are very selective and I never thought my public school self would be applying to these. But... my girl is sad. My girl desires something different and I need to listen. So... she had a big test at a beautiful school is West Seattle today to which she said, "wasn't as hard as she thought".
*****
Last night I was looking at facebook and one of the limb different groups stated that someone from Disney as looking for a girl 7-9 with a limb difference (that was not causasion). Well, Madeleine felt compelled to email Disney and let them know about her. She said, "I'm white but they should meet me". So I emailed....
I heard you were looking to find a girl from the ages of seven and nine with a limb difference. I also heard you were looking for a child of color. I wanted to let you know that my daughter who is Caucasian and nine years old is a below knee amputee. She is very interested in you seeing a picture of her. She's gregarious, social, smart, kind, funny and beautiful.
Let us know if we can help you.
Niki and Madeleine Meyers
And guess what... They emailed me back today! They wanted to meet her! I sent them these pictures because they highlight Madeleine and they are such good pix of her!
After Mad's big test she skyped with Art Spigal and Dave Glasgal of Disney. I don't know if they liked her. I don't know if they were able to see her gifts but I hope she gained a couple of self-esteem points by chatting with them.
The best part is that she said she didn't care. She said that she would be okay if they wanted her to come to LA and if not that was okay too.
I'm proud of her. She worked hard for this day. And, she is feeling it now...
She fell asleep right after dinner with her special baby doll. I love her.
UPDATE: Art and David emailed back telling me they thought Madeleine was fun and inspiring and not a good fit for this project but they would like to keep her 'on file' for future features. I thanked them and commended them for their interest in putting kids with limb differences into main stream. Bravo Disney!
