The group home's Easter Sunday has been sucessfully put to bed... I had some major concerns that today was going to end w/ either residents or staff ending up bloodied and limping severely. Of the four residents there, two have been under close supervision due to particularly random occurences of extreme violence.
Since those guys have such heavy communication impariments, sometimes the only way they understand how to effectively get something across is to beat the shit out of someone who isn't paying attention.
The reason I'm good at my job and one of their favorite staff members is I'm a better listener than a talker. I was able to fill up an entire 14 hours of their life w/ Easter activity, phone calls to cross-country family, trips to feed geese, watching a quick match of Yale frisbee something-or-other, bike jaunts and kickass Thai food made by moi. 
Oh, and those 14 hours were all holiday pay! How could have almost forgotten!? 
So I've yet to get the official report on how my family's Easter bash went off. My Mom annually throws left-of-center family get-togethers - Mother's Day tea parties for elderly matrons in our clan, etc. Today they expected in the neighborhood of 30-35 folk over... Screaming kids of cousins; Cranky aunts complaining about every thing they can remember or those in attendence; The same uncles who'd be passed out on a couch, football droning in the backround after Thanksgiving dinner, now having to make polite conversation w/ TV taken over by SpongeBob-chanting six year olds... The invite was passed along to AlienPrincess and myself...we both dodged a bullet by working. Otherwise it'd be underhanded talk of "How long have you two been dating for now..? You know, your cousin Don was engaged to that darling Diane after nine months. Hmm...and you say you've been dating this nice girl for almost three years..?"
So tomorrow, I'm showing up over there to aid in pushing some tables back into place, putting folding chairs back in closets and taking a tray of divine potatoes au gratin off their hands.
Since those guys have such heavy communication impariments, sometimes the only way they understand how to effectively get something across is to beat the shit out of someone who isn't paying attention.
The reason I'm good at my job and one of their favorite staff members is I'm a better listener than a talker. I was able to fill up an entire 14 hours of their life w/ Easter activity, phone calls to cross-country family, trips to feed geese, watching a quick match of Yale frisbee something-or-other, bike jaunts and kickass Thai food made by moi. Oh, and those 14 hours were all holiday pay! How could have almost forgotten!?
So I've yet to get the official report on how my family's Easter bash went off. My Mom annually throws left-of-center family get-togethers - Mother's Day tea parties for elderly matrons in our clan, etc. Today they expected in the neighborhood of 30-35 folk over... Screaming kids of cousins; Cranky aunts complaining about every thing they can remember or those in attendence; The same uncles who'd be passed out on a couch, football droning in the backround after Thanksgiving dinner, now having to make polite conversation w/ TV taken over by SpongeBob-chanting six year olds... The invite was passed along to AlienPrincess and myself...we both dodged a bullet by working. Otherwise it'd be underhanded talk of "How long have you two been dating for now..? You know, your cousin Don was engaged to that darling Diane after nine months. Hmm...and you say you've been dating this nice girl for almost three years..?"
So tomorrow, I'm showing up over there to aid in pushing some tables back into place, putting folding chairs back in closets and taking a tray of divine potatoes au gratin off their hands. VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
It is extremely admirable in my opinion that you can successfully work with those who have special needs. My proverbial hat is off to you for showing compassion to those who so sorely need it. Too many are the times when people who are put in your place abuse those that they are there to help.
Peace.
-Josh