April in New England

I could take April showers, no problem. But, this cold weather is ridiculous. I know it's to be expected up here, but come on. Still, looks like it'll probably be in the 50's for the marathon which is perfect, much higher and heat becomes a body issue. I think it's somewhere over 65 that the body is unable to continue cooling itself, so you have to hydrate like crazy. Anyway, got in a run yesterday, short, just 4 miles. I was a bit rusty, but it was my first time back out in cold weather, and my first day back from a rest day, so I'm not too worried. Overall it was good, no pain in the knee, good speed, keep this up and I may actually look like a runner out there on race day ;-)

I also volunteered yesterday. It was really great to be back. I was the only one there, as Noreen is busy with a show, another volunteer has some work obligations, and the last one was ill. It was manageable though, the family program person was there if I needed help, and the kids were pretty well behaved. One had to do homework at first. The other two played well together, teasing eachother a bit, but stopping when reminded of our "nice" rule. A child moved out recently, and it's interesting because he was the dominant child in the house. Now things seem to be shifting. The two I started out with last night have been there longer, and their progress from when I started volunteering is readily evident. Of course you have steps back, but one was able to express with words that his feelings were hurt and he didn't like a situation. That is miles beyond where he was in October, it just would have been lashing out or a tantrum at that point. I was pleasantly dumbfounded. And the other child's language skills have developed well, as well as her ability to focus.

We did have one incident, which was another great reminder/lesson for me. What happened was that we were playing a game of hide and seek, and one child accused another of cheating. Now, to set the record straight, there was no cheating, possibly a misunderstanding or embarrassment at being found, but no cheating. The child who was called a cheater started crying and became very upset. It reminded me that first off, no matter how far these childen have come, they are still kids who have a lot of difficulty in there lives and that progress is fluid not linear. Also, being accused of cheating really hurts! Just like this kid, when a you're a child, it's a pretty bad thing to be called. You're embarrassed, you may feel it's unjustified, and it ruins the fun of the game, causing other not so good feelings. Then as we grow older, we become defensive at such an accusation, I lump lying in with this by the way. Also, we get this bitter, cynical shell that expects cheating of others, and even excuses it(think politicians, pro athletes, business men), you know, whatever it takes to get ahead, to win. I'm kind of glad that this disdain for cheating, and the travesty of being called a cheater still exists with kids. It's almost amazing that it does. Imagine if Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire cried and appeared actually hurt at their accusations instead of ignoring it and playing dumb, or if Bud Selig was as vehement about cheaters in his presence as children are. Hmmm...

Anyway, there were some additional issues to deal with in this case, but the family program director and I worked together to help the kids resolve it. What was pretty cool about the situation is that I was able to occupy the third child throughout this with a puppet show, thus avoiding escalation with the addition of that child's energy to the conflict. More, I was amazed by her ability to focus on the puppets and me, not the conflict. Never ceases to amaze me, the things that these kids can do!

Aaaaaaaaannnnndddd, we're still very close to $3000 but not quite there. So, come one guys! Let's get this going, push it over the edge! YOU...CAN...DO...IT!!!