A Busy Day to End My Week

Of all days, Saturday is normally my busiest. It's also the day I look forward to most because I volunteer at a self-help group on this day. Today, we brought the kids we teach to a performance at a children's festival. Kids being kids, they were so excited, yak non-stop, made so much noise all the way to the venue. They were so noisy on the bus we couldn't even hear ourselves speak! The performance was quite kiddish so I kind of dozed off in the middle. Not sure if all the kids enjoyed it but as most of them have not been exposed to such performances before, I thought it was an important eye-opener for them.

Upon our return from the show, a stressed looking parent requested to speak to me. Whenever she spoke, she would go on and on about her problems, her kid's problems and expect instant solutions. Today, I told myself I gotta make her see that there's more to life then just worrying about problems. Positive thinking. That's what I wanted to get across. As I talked, she interrupted, as usual. I decided to keep quiet, so quiet, she noticed, stopped her rambling and told me to carry on. Finally she was listening to me! I think we had a good talk. She certainly looked less stressed than when she first walked in. I gave her a squeeze on her shoulder before she left. It's a good start.

I'm not a trained counsellor. But if I speak to people with sincerity, show that I care, I suppose they do listen.

Hope I've made today a little brighter for this struggling single mum.

So tired...I'm going to sleep early.