Last Friday: 3:00- my first sigh of relief.
Since, then, it's been no makeup, sweats, and lots of cuddling with the kids.
Two weeks off work. It's now when that "I work on the school calendar" excitement sets in! It's like a summer preview. Christmas does not do that, the rush-rush of the holiday season and the usual bad weather does nothing but remind me that there is still 6 months to summer. Now, though, I can count down.... "when I get back, there is 1 week of April, May, then June" (and we all know June does not really count).
I guess the bottom line is that although I love working with kids and helping families as a social worker, my job is stressful. I do not write a lot about what I do for a living, but I work in an elementary school in a section of Niagara Falls that is extremely high poverty and crime. And, unfortunately it's not getting any better. The lastest issues have been gang turf wars resulting in many shootings in the city and has instilled fear in many. Add that to the many instances of domestic violence, child abuse, deplorable living conditions...etc, etc.. it's a lot to take in a day. Especially when you see the resiliency and capability of the kids, and have the knowing that little will change for them and a cycle will be perpetuated.
Being a mom of small children also makes it hard also. Questioning the why and how is near impossible- "why do some kids get great families and love, and others get next to nothing", or "how is it right that one gets beaten and abused and the next has people left and right dying to spend time loving them?"
But, I do love the kids I work with. And the ones that are harder to love I try to love anyway. It's not easy. On the days that it's really not easy I just unload on someone I trust and come back for more the next day. I feel I am placed where God wants me, even though it sure not easy to take on.
These little breaks give me an opportunity to reload and be with my kids 24/7. And, although what I said above it certainly challenging, there is no harder work than being a stay at home mom!
2 comments:
" I do love the kids I work with. And the ones that are harder to love I try to love anyway. It's not easy. On the days that it's really not easy I just unload on someone I trust and come back for more the next day. I feel I am placed where God wants me, even though it sure not easy to take on." - That's education right there sister! You are there for a reason!
It is really hard to fathom the reason why kids are born into different situations. I guess the only real answer to that is our own sin nature creating those places for children. I'm not sure it matters how much money a family has, without God there is nothing. When I worked in a very rich suburb there was a lot more disillusionment and dispare then I was expecting. Aren't these people rich? Don't they have everything they want/need? Yet, without God they were still in the traps of sin. I think with rich people, though, sin and dispare are hidden a little better than in poor areas because of the immediate needs of the poor.
Ok, so much for philosophy. You're doing a great job! Enjoy your break.
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