Back at Thanksgiving I wrote about the holiday and the kids that live across the street. These kids live in a group home. We have lived across the street from this group home for 17 years so those kids back then probably have kids of their own by now. The thing I wrote about at Thanksgiving was my frustration with the kids and the people that worked there. How within the month of November I guessed the police had been out 30 times to the house. I under estimated by a lot. It was more than 60 times. My frustration made me take action and after visiting the police station and actually being told if there was anything wrong they would be shut down. Give me a break if the cops have been at the same address 60 times in one month the least there is, is something wrong.
Well today I am sitting in my front window and the kids are playing tether ball and yesterday I actually saw one of the adults that worked there out playing ball with the kids in the street. Now I know some of you think I am crazy but I wanted to walk out and say Thanks... So this morning as I started to sit down at the computer I thought I have some outdoor toys in the garage. I went out and found them and took them over. The boys that were out playing I asked if they could check with someone that worked there to see if I could give the toys to them. They came back out with the same adult that was out playing with them yesterday. I explained that I live across the street and I appreciate the work they are doing and the improvements that have been made. I handed over the stuff to the boys and they said thank you and have a nice day.
I did ask the adult if there was anything they needed and if so to let me know and I said we live just across the street. I explained my experiences and he had not worked there back in November but he knows what I am referring to.
To say that I was pleased would be an understatement.
The thing I wanted to write about is life experiences and that some are different than others and just because people don't have the same experiences that you did doesn't make them less of a person. It just makes them different. Those boys don't have parents that love them in the traditional sense. I don't know if they do at all, but I know that people care and those kids know who they are.
People with children always say they want better for their kids. Better by the standards of which they were brought up. If you grew up working hard maybe you want your kids to play more. Maybe my childhood I worried to much about others and I would hope that if I had a kid they wouldn't have to worry but that wouldn't mean I wouldn't want them to work hard and play hard. Everything in proportion. I know that kids today don't have responsibilities and I understand the world is different than when I was a kid. I am pretty sure what I would want my kid to be able to do is different than others. Kids need to know right from wrong and there are consequences. They need to learn who they can trust and how to manage money. These are the things that will make your kids good adults.
When my nieces and nephew were young I would hold them and talk to them like they were adults. Telling them things about making good choices and things I wanted to do with them when they got older. My one sister came home and asked what I was doing. I said, telling them all the things they won't want me to when they are older. God, I love those kids. I teased my nephew he had to love me more than his mom so he would take care of me when I get old. I don't think my mother or grandmother thought that way but after taking care of both at the end of their lives I know how important it is to have someone that cares taking care of you.
I know I have covered a bunch of subjects but while you are home with your kids maybe show them how to pay the bills. They don't have to know that you worry about where the money is coming from just show them that it is due and you have to pay it. The rest they will learn in time.
Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Hard Times
Today I was thinking about a time that most would find to be very difficult but looking back it was so rewarding.
Back in 2011 I worked for a guy who thought he knew it all and I have quite often been accused of knowing it all as well. After 7 years he decided he knew way more than me and could do it better without me. I tried to make sense of a person that honestly a PHD would study for years and not be able to make much more sense of him but this isn't about him. It never is.
This is about my favorite time in my unemployment. I have always thought that people that are unemployed should do something more productive than watch Oprah and Judge Judy and I had never watched these shows before I wasn't going to start now. I decided I would make myself productive and volunteer at my nephew's school. I did lots of things I enjoyed that year, I worked in the library and I would eat lunch with my nephew which then turned into tutoring other kids in math during their lunch time. I got to play teacher and bring pencils and erasers and give them away like bars of gold to kids that solved problems they couldn't the week before.
Kids enjoyed my math lunch table so much they would bring their friends and we sat outside in the sun and did flash cards and solved all kinds of problems. I wish I could remember some of the names like I remember their faces and their stories. One told me of her illegal parents and how she was scared of being sent to a place she had never lived. These kids all had a place in my heart and I was the proudest volunteer when they would tell me how they got a 100 on a quiz. But there was this little girl that moved me the most. She was horrible at math. She couldn't add or subtract and not even counting on her fingers. She was always distracting everyone and she climbed on me like she had never gotten any attention before in her life and I was the only one that ever noticed her. The teacher told me one day as I tried to figure out how to get this little girl to focus on what we were doing that if she was too big of a distraction that we could remove her and add another child that would behave better. I said the words before I even thought about them. I would sooner give up all the others because she is the one that needs my help.
That day I watched her and what she did and again an epiphany of sorts. I watched her look under the table I assumed at her fingers to try to figure out the problem. I immediately said, show me your work. The kids all looked at me like what is she talking about. I said, if you are going to count on your fingers I need to see your work. So from that day on no one ever hid their hands under the table when they counted on their fingers and we started from scratch and that little girl learned to not only count on her fingers but to add and subtract. I remember her hugging me one day on the way to lunch telling me that she only missed one on her math test. I had never been more proud of myself or probably not since. Like I said I don't know her name but since I thought of her this morning I thought she is probably about 16 years old now and I hope that that year that I was unemployed it was not punishment for me not doing a good job it was actually the opportunity for me to work with some great kids for a short time and maybe I made a difference in some of their lives as they did for me.
Back in 2011 I worked for a guy who thought he knew it all and I have quite often been accused of knowing it all as well. After 7 years he decided he knew way more than me and could do it better without me. I tried to make sense of a person that honestly a PHD would study for years and not be able to make much more sense of him but this isn't about him. It never is.
This is about my favorite time in my unemployment. I have always thought that people that are unemployed should do something more productive than watch Oprah and Judge Judy and I had never watched these shows before I wasn't going to start now. I decided I would make myself productive and volunteer at my nephew's school. I did lots of things I enjoyed that year, I worked in the library and I would eat lunch with my nephew which then turned into tutoring other kids in math during their lunch time. I got to play teacher and bring pencils and erasers and give them away like bars of gold to kids that solved problems they couldn't the week before.
Kids enjoyed my math lunch table so much they would bring their friends and we sat outside in the sun and did flash cards and solved all kinds of problems. I wish I could remember some of the names like I remember their faces and their stories. One told me of her illegal parents and how she was scared of being sent to a place she had never lived. These kids all had a place in my heart and I was the proudest volunteer when they would tell me how they got a 100 on a quiz. But there was this little girl that moved me the most. She was horrible at math. She couldn't add or subtract and not even counting on her fingers. She was always distracting everyone and she climbed on me like she had never gotten any attention before in her life and I was the only one that ever noticed her. The teacher told me one day as I tried to figure out how to get this little girl to focus on what we were doing that if she was too big of a distraction that we could remove her and add another child that would behave better. I said the words before I even thought about them. I would sooner give up all the others because she is the one that needs my help.
That day I watched her and what she did and again an epiphany of sorts. I watched her look under the table I assumed at her fingers to try to figure out the problem. I immediately said, show me your work. The kids all looked at me like what is she talking about. I said, if you are going to count on your fingers I need to see your work. So from that day on no one ever hid their hands under the table when they counted on their fingers and we started from scratch and that little girl learned to not only count on her fingers but to add and subtract. I remember her hugging me one day on the way to lunch telling me that she only missed one on her math test. I had never been more proud of myself or probably not since. Like I said I don't know her name but since I thought of her this morning I thought she is probably about 16 years old now and I hope that that year that I was unemployed it was not punishment for me not doing a good job it was actually the opportunity for me to work with some great kids for a short time and maybe I made a difference in some of their lives as they did for me.
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