Good morning (possibly!) to you all. I skimmed a little bit from yesterday and it sounded like a lot of you had some chaotic moments. I sure hope that by the time you read this, everything is calmer.
It wasn't calm at work yesterday either. I had to laugh at the end of it. It was one of those days where if something could go upside-down, it did. But despite that, I am excited to be working with Lauren and with the kids. Pre-planning went fine, she was expecting 5 kids. By the time of drop-off, some last-minute registrations came though and she had 9 on the roster. Everything was flooded. Some of the kids weren't wearing snow boots or waterproof shoes and had to go back to the office to dry off. And one girl- let's just say that I have had a few in similar situations and part of you wants to say hey- I can tell you are being a drama queen here and part of you wants to do everything you can to make them feel safe. It's hard
Years ago I had a set of twins that if anyone even slightly bumped into them, they would drop to the floor screaming bloody murder. This usually happened when the rest of my class had nap time. They had a lot going on in their family life and I saw the same "vibe" in this person yesterday.
Lauren apologized for the way things played out. I told her, I'd had worse.
My biggest challenge is adjusting my physical boundaries. I was used to teaching in classrooms. Outside time was in a tightly controlled playground with very clear rules that had to be adhered to. It's like I have an internal rubber band that when these kids got too far away, my instinct was to bring them back in. My rubber band is much smaller them Lauren's. What was neat and reassuring about it was that afterward, we talked over the session and I brought that up. Lauren and Anne were super supportive of that and said that as I got to know the kids and the property that area/boundary would expand.
I am not scheduled to work until the 24th but I'll either have a training meeting next week or I'll head over there on my own to walk around and look at some of the books and supplies. I am allowed to hike there whenever I want (the trails are private) so I can get used to the layout better. I know they are discussing summer camp already so I hope that I'll be part of that.
This morning is grocery pick up and then house cleaning for my friend. Keeping an eye on J-- she will use her leg when walking slowly but the second she picks up speed, she'll switch to 3 legs. But it is an improvement. Whew!
HAGD! xoxo
It wasn't calm at work yesterday either. I had to laugh at the end of it. It was one of those days where if something could go upside-down, it did. But despite that, I am excited to be working with Lauren and with the kids. Pre-planning went fine, she was expecting 5 kids. By the time of drop-off, some last-minute registrations came though and she had 9 on the roster. Everything was flooded. Some of the kids weren't wearing snow boots or waterproof shoes and had to go back to the office to dry off. And one girl- let's just say that I have had a few in similar situations and part of you wants to say hey- I can tell you are being a drama queen here and part of you wants to do everything you can to make them feel safe. It's hard
Years ago I had a set of twins that if anyone even slightly bumped into them, they would drop to the floor screaming bloody murder. This usually happened when the rest of my class had nap time. They had a lot going on in their family life and I saw the same "vibe" in this person yesterday.
Lauren apologized for the way things played out. I told her, I'd had worse.
My biggest challenge is adjusting my physical boundaries. I was used to teaching in classrooms. Outside time was in a tightly controlled playground with very clear rules that had to be adhered to. It's like I have an internal rubber band that when these kids got too far away, my instinct was to bring them back in. My rubber band is much smaller them Lauren's.
What was neat and reassuring about it was that afterward, we talked over the session and I brought that up. Lauren and Anne were super supportive of that and said that as I got to know the kids and the property that area/boundary would expand. I am not scheduled to work until the 24th but I'll either have a training meeting next week or I'll head over there on my own to walk around and look at some of the books and supplies. I am allowed to hike there whenever I want (the trails are private) so I can get used to the layout better. I know they are discussing summer camp already so I hope that I'll be part of that.
This morning is grocery pick up and then house cleaning for my friend. Keeping an eye on J-- she will use her leg when walking slowly but the second she picks up speed, she'll switch to 3 legs. But it is an improvement. Whew!
HAGD! xoxo
That was wonderful news. Had to say the morning started off a bit rocky... my friend fell back asleep and it is a good thing I called her when she had not called to say she was on the way. It is a 30 minute drive from her house to mine and my check-in was only 40 minutes away when I called her. All was okay - we got there 5 minutes after check-in time. We picked up lunch and brought it home with us. After she left I crawled into bed and slept for over 2 hours. Had supper than was back in bed by 7:30 PM and slept until 6 AM. Know that was due to the sedation meds.
She was quick to say "oh Mom, that's ok - I don't have that much pressure, either" - she's too kind. LOL