Re: Another year, a fresh start

Babe,

Anyone who can stump a worried and annoyed parent by giving glowing accounts of her daughter, with no negative at the end...is a champion counselor and a champion person in my book.


A long, long time ago I read an article that suggested, if your child was abused, it was imperative to laugh.

Laugh?!!!

Oh, that author was cunning! They deliberately used that startling word in that context to jar the reader.

Then they went on to make the point...you MUST treat the child as though THEY have not changed...as though they have simply been in an accident and are perfectly fine...intact...unscathed...as beautiful, and with endless possibilities ahead, as they were before. And that you, everyone, loves them exactly as before.

Any sign that you are 'walking on eggs' around them, or that you don't know what to do...is 100% counter-productive. Kids are sharp as tacks...they can SMELL a change in your attitude!

But, fun stuff, new stuff, always catches them off guard.


You can be going along teaching math, and throw in one nonsense word, like 'snickelfritz', and bingo! you suddenly have the complete attention of everyone in the room...even the one that was sleeping!

You probably will have laughter, too. That's an inexplicable human reaction...you are going along and along the expected path of the lesson, lecture, class, and ZIP, you veer off on a tangent.

It's even funnier if you treat it like a hiccup, unimportant, maybe fingers covering the mouth for a moment...and carry on with the lesson.


If the first escape of 'snickelfritz' has a squeak to it, and the second is low, and the last one is loud and dismisses the class, you will become famous...and students will come early to your classes...just to see what you'll hiccup next.

Anything you teach will become imprinted indelibly in their minds. ...And they will love you forever.


Picturebook.


As I was saying, laughter, friendly laughter that re-establishes confidence and well-being is such a restorative that it is mandatory in the handling of a young person.

The article that said that made me mad as hell when I first read it, because my first thought was to crucify the perp, slowly...alongside all his relatives.

But when I understood the author's meaning I realized the better purpose of supporting/restoring the child.


PictureBoo-ook...


You have the gift, my friend. I can see that from here. I'll bet it was in you since age five, or earlier...the ability to see more, deeper, than others...the ability to do something about injustice...the ability to create your own 'circle of warmth'.

I'll bet there is an instant of recognition when anyone comes to you...a tiny pause where both you and your client are glad to be there, together...a moment of smile...electric.


P.I.C.T.U.R.E.B.O.O.K.


'Scuse me, I seem to have the hiccups.

See you tomorrow.

:D