Monday morning blues.....NOT.

I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I couldn't get it together for some reason. I guess it was because I was off all last week. So, as I stumbled into what I thought would be a crazy day, I was pleasantly surprised.  There were no complaints or situations that needed to be handled. See, I work with people (21+) who have intellectual disabilities. At times it can be trying because attention and patience is definitely needed when working in this field.  Everyday, my group would come upstairs without fail at 1:45 from their volunteer sites to visit me.  It can become overwhelming at times because I could be in the middle of something, on a phone or in a meeting and the group would just wait until I was done to say "hi".

One of the young ladies that's in my program has Autism.  She has limited verbal skills (as she repeats what is said) and will literally run away from you if you try to speak to her. Once she completes her day volunteering in the community, we practice random communication skills by reading different things in books or just events that happened in her day.  After 4 years of being in the program, she is slowly coming out of her shell.  On this day, she rushed up stairs to see me with a smile as big as the sun.  I called her by her name and she quickly turned her back. I then asked her if she missed me. While her back was turned, she said "yes" (still cheesing with that smile).  As usual, I asked if she could practice the phrase " I Miss you". She turned around and said " I MISS ME". I had to laugh because she was doing what I asked her to do. My Monday morning turned out to be a good morning after all.

Enjoy