a smile to it all

My week was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. It also ended with confusion and exhaustion.

Had an eye check up last Saturday. My right eye was hit by my hyperactive student with a pencil last Wednesday and since then, it won’t stop excreting a little water and getting itchy at times. Good thing it didn’t hit my iris. As my MR student’s dad is an eye specialist, my boss wrote a note and had my eye checked for free. I had lead infection he said and gave me an antibacterial eye drop, for free again.

However, this afternoon, an incident gave me an opportunity to smile gracefully and made me empty my mind on the things that concerns me much this week. Well, he just came in the middle of our jamming, grabbed his guitar in the middle of a song to teach our guitarist at that time (not our usual guitarist) the chords of the song we played then gave him back his guitar and grabbed the microphone and sang. I just listened to him sing his heart out, and he was even in tune though it was not the usual songs I would hear him sing. It was a joy to witness him do that. Since I came to know him, he has not only changed and matured, he has also developed his musical skills.

Wanna guess who the guy is? He is one of the Cugman Boiz, of course.

holy week itinerary

Get this..

Our school’s moving up / closing program will be in the afternoon of April 4 and will end probably in the early hours of the night. Our Mindanao youth camp is set on April 30 – May 4. But its camp training will be on April 6 – 8 at Davao City and its a possibility also that I will be at Davao City earlier, April 5. April 9 – 10 will be Cebu City’s youth camp’s staff retreat in preparation for the Cebu City’s youth camp on May 27 – June 1. This retreat is crucial for Cebu City’s youth camp volunteer staffs. Be home probably on the 11th. Then summer class in our school starts on the 13th, Monday.

See my travel plans on the holy week? My much expected and awaited week-long vacation will never be realized. Hahayz.. But NO complaints about it. This is what I love to do, this is what energizes me at times, part of what I do with the youths. Just have to bear with these.

* I do need to breath, relax and unwind. *

these kids..

Kids nowadays are so eager to grow up, try on grown-up things, clothes behaviors, play grown-up roles, etc. Can’t they be kids and enjoy the liberty of it? Explore and learn more of their age-appropriate games which they would eventually miss when they grow up. Fly kites this summer, run along the riverside, play takyang, patintero on the street, run in the streets, get dirtied, etc. There’s fun being a kid and not just try to relive those days when they are grown up already. I pity girls wearing heeled sandals and shoes as they’ll have difficulty running when they want to run and if they could run, it’ll hurt their feet as well. I pity girls wearing tubes, not because I can’t dare to wear one but because their delicate body needs protection. I pity girls painted on make-up even just going to the malls, they are beautiful and need not cover their little, cute faces with cosmetics. I pity boys who were confined to computer games at home when they could have run around and play with their neighbors or playmates or siblings. They could have practiced their balance by playing some tag or walking along a level line and makae a game on it. In that way, they could develop more of their muscles at an early age, develop social skills and any other aspects as well, further logical and cognitive skills at their age maybe.

Wish they won’t grow up so fast that they’ll miss some of the things we used to enjoy at their age. Society-wise, there are just some things which can’t be done anymore. But it should not be a hindrance to deprive the kids with these developmentally important plays in their young age.

* a close-similar article is also posted in wanderer's blog.

my teary Tuesday

Spitted on me. Pushed me to the wall. Pushed my chair and laughed when I fell on the floor. Threw the blocks I let her work on, sometimes on my face. Punched my face and my left arm, it even lose its strength. Attempted to push her finger into my mouth and nose. Bit my stomach and legs. With that, I isolated my student with mental retardation into the corner with her chair, only. And those were not enough. She stood up, picked her plastic chair and threw it to me and her classmate diagnosed with Down syndrome. Then she came to us, lifted the plastic table and threw it in the direction of her classmate. It hit her in the foot. I don’t know what else to do so I isolated her again in the corner. Without even looking at her direction, no attention at all, not even a glance or any concern from her classmate, no word, none whatsoever. It may be harsh but I had to isolate her to make her feel and know that she is misbehaving, in the hope that she’ll feel it. Facing the wall, she started murmuring about something. I think she was imitating an authority figure in her life and pretending it talking to her. Some words got my attention. It were not something I wanted to be said to her, a child suffering from seizures and mental retardation. After much words, I stood up and walked to her. Moved her chair to face me, she still continued on with her murmurs while pointing fingers on my face, pushing her finger actually. When she stood up, I just hugged her. She still continued on murmuring. She’s the same student I had who always gave me a warm hug whenever she arrives at school. My heart really sank for her. I wish her parents would know how she is really. How she is when her seizure occurs and how she is cognitively. Her parents are so dependent on her yaya which became more like a mother to her since her yaya knows her more than her parents does and had witnessed her seizure lapses nd all. I hope she could stillimprove despite having her body drowned in medicines. Her hyperactivity and wildness nowadays were due to the medicines she’s taking to control her seizures, and most of those were on trial basis. Poor student, she’s like an experiment. Please include her in your prayers.

Monday-itis

Or what I sometimes call, Monday blues.

Yups.. It’s still Monday, the first workday of the week yet I feel drained already. It’s like all of my energy and enthusiasm were left in my bed pressed down with my blanket. Hahayz..

Last week was torture. Everyday is a battle field. One of my student not only had to be restraint. I had to avoid her spits, punches on my face and upper body, pushes, slams on the wall and even learns to scratch my face. Where did she learned all of these? Imagine having a student like that who wouldn’t even understand what you were talking about. Sometimes I would just want to punch her back to make her feel the pain. Hehehe.. The perks of our job.

Hahayz.. I better get over these. Thinking of her right now makes me want to call my workplace and fake being sick. I want to rest. Treat me for an ice cream will yah.