Hacker Widow

Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

Friday was my last day of work for two weeks. I looovveeee Spring Break! We decided to celebrate by driving to San Luis Obispo for the day. So, I got home at 11:00 and waited for my daughter to get out of class. My hubby informs me that my new mac was in route and should be delivered any second. Dilemma.. do we wait for the UPS man, or do we leave with the hope that my “baby” doen’t get liberated off the front porch. So we putter around checking everything twice and finally decide to go. As we are loading the car, we hear the distinctive purr of the UPS truck. The hubby is so excited, he goes running into the street, bouncing up and down. It was like hearing that Eddie Murphy skit about a kids reaction to the ice cream man. “The ice cream man!!!!! The ice cream man is commmmiiinngggg!!!!!” My daughter and I watched (laughing hysterically) as the truck stopped. The UPS man climbs out with a hugh grin. He stated he didn’t blame my husband for being excited. Tears running down my face, I climbed back in to the car so we could start our trip. It’s nice to know that he still has a bit of his inner child left. Oh, by the way… the Mac is beautiful ;0)

I am a Special Behavior Aide. This means that I help children with “special needs” transition into the mainstream classroom. I am going on my tenth year doing this. Believe me, it sounds WAY more glamorous than it actually is. Basically, I help children acquire the skills needed to be able to learn alongside their peers. Right now I’m with an 7 yr old autistic girl. I have been with her for over 3 yrs and lets just say that rotating aides every 18 months sound like a much better plan. It’s been awesome to see her growth and get to know her so well, but the burnout is sometimes overwhelming. There are only so many times that you can get hit, kicked, or bit before you start to wonder if you have chosen the right line of work. For example, this little girl has developed the most amazing memory to compensate for her lack of reading skills. She sat there today, doing her independent work, matching picture cards with the word. She has done these books many, many times before and basically memorized which pictures were next to each other, then learned the words that they represented. Anyone who walked in to observe, would assume that she was doing an amazing job reading, when in fact, it is her memory that is amazing. If you read it to her once, she’ll remember your voice’s cadence, and rhythms, to help her read it next time. Granted, this in itself is amazing, but it is very hard to figure out just how much of an influence I have on her learning. I would like to think that I am helping her in some small way. Helping her acclimate into a world she really doesn’t want to be in, but it’s hard to know. And she can’t tell me. So here’s to all the Behavior Aides out there…. YOU ROCK!!!!!  ;0)

Have you ever noticed that our personal coffee mugs to reflect our personalities? Or at least, peoples ideas of what we are like? Come on.. admit it… when you hit the souvenir shop, you tend to gravitate towards a certain type of mug. While it may state “Seattle”, or “Tahoe”, it will have some kind of twist to make it your own. Humorous, sarcastic, angry, they are all out there…calling to us. For instance, I have always said that my hubby was a bit of a spaz (sorry for the ’80s reference) in high school. So understandably his cup reflects that..

And, of course, the saying….

Since he drinks Quad shot mocha’s… I could have told you that.

Than, there’s my mug…

And the saying,

K, so technically I do hate mornings… but Grumpy, I don’t know.  Well, I guess its a step up from my other favorite character…

:0)   Moving on…..

Back to coffee mugs.

We have QUITE a collection.

We have seasonal mugs,

Christmas

Valentines Day

Halloween

Then the assorted mish mash,

But my favorite, the allusive thermals

Slightly blurry, but you get the idea. Thank goodness we have a daughter employed by Starbucks. Lol, obviously…..

I guess you can say I have a unique perspective on this subject. My father has Alzheimer’s and I work in an elementary school helping kids with special needs “mainstream”. I currently aide a student with moderate to severe autism. I am constantly amazed by the similarities of the two. First, the frustration levels. All is good until you require them to do unfamiliar tasks. Almost instant volcano. BOOM!! Both will react with rage, physical and emotional. If that doesn’t redirect the request, then they go to belligerence. In the case of my student, she’s non-verbal, so she whines and moans. My dad, belittles and insults. Second, both have repetitive requests and questions. Over and over, the same things. I try to be patient…but wow. The only difference, I am extremely excited when I see my student learn a new word or action. It makes everything worthwhile. Sadly, I know that my Father will never be able to regain what he’s lost. So I sit with him, answer his questions over and over, hoping that the next time I visit, he’ll remember my name.