GOOD DAY!

Yes, a very good day. It started off with some crazy aerobics at the Club with about 20 kids. Yup, that's what I decided to do to get them "calmed down." Maybe that seems a little backwards to you but it actually WORKED. Amen. Amen. Let me say that again, Amen!
What worked about it was that all of the kids :
1. Loved that they got to move in a crazy way.
2. Enjoyed it enough to want to pay attention to what aerobic activity I would switch to next.
3. Did it together as a GROUP; almost every single child was participating in the same activity without beating each other up.
4. When the aerobic activity switched to "sit down and be quiet now", THEY DID IT!!

Gosh today was awesome with the kids. We had a few children who weren't there this morning from Casa Alba orphanage and that made a huge difference in the dynamic of the group. There also was one staff member who does an exception job with her room of kids. That room of kids happens to be one of the most disrespectful groups of children together but with this staff worker today, no problems whatsoever! That was a huge relief. The children who were gone can often pose some behavioral problems during this Saturday morning program. Without them there we were able to actually do the games and activities with few time outs and disrespect.
To tell a child to stop talking rudely and then have them continue, and continue, and continue to do so while you are explaining a game...well, that's difficult. Make it 15 children and then you can understand what group times with these children are like. Discipline doesn't work, for the most part, so it's very hard to know how to give consequences for the bad choices. Plus, there is no consistency between staff workers and volunteers with consequences so that poses a problem in itself. Sorry, off track now. What I'm trying to say is this. God poured a whole bunch of His grace into the morning and it was fantastic.

One of my highlights was the "Praise Walk." You have the kids form 2 lines, facing each other. Each child has to walk down the path in between while all of the other children are shouting praises and encouragement. We screamed "I love you!" "You're beautiful" "Bravo!" "You're smart" all while clapping and cheering for every single child.

The smiles. If only you could have seen the smiles on their faces. It literally was priceless.

At the end of the walk was a tree that my friend and I had stuck bananas in. After finishing the Praise Walk the child had to immediately turn into a monkey, complete with sounds and motions, and grab a banana of their choice. Ha! It was great. I wish you all could have been there to see it!

And yes, Halloween was yesterday. And yes, some of us scrambled for last minute costumes for our child. And yes, a few of the kids went around getting candy from just a few (literally) spots around the foundation's grounds. And yes, they all loved it. And yes, even Mom who really - really - really scrambled for a costume with only 30 minutes to make one, absolutely loved watching the kids get candy. And yes, pictures will be posted tomorrow!