Helloooooooo Bloggers!
Here is another Halloween music mix for ya...
A little Halloween doo wop, surf,vintage, and a few goodies.
Love it.... especially in the studio..
So the last two days have been exhausting.
The body is beat.
Took a soccer ball to the head on Monday.
By a ten year old who looked twenty five.
Damn near knocked my head off.
You love moments like this with kids...
It was a total accident.
We went outside with a big group to run out some energy.
Turned to help a student.... wham... into my head.
The entire playground went quiet...
You could hear all the kids gasp...
None of the kids moved...
They all waited to see what would happen...
They had just met me ten minutes before....
Not sure what kind of reaction they they might get...
I'm a big dude..
For many of these kids the adult at home would be freaking...
I'm sure my angry bear like stare with my glasses tilted
and falling off my face scared the hell out of the kid.
In my own head I was rambling in some quick
speaking angry tongue not suitable for children's ears.
My face was throbbing.
Deep inside I was regressing into a nine year old with
bad dodgeball memories of catching the ball with my face.
But let calmness prevail..
I looked at him and the rest of the kids.
Then sternly but yet calmly reminded them about the rules of
kicking and throwing balls on the playground.
Its moments like these that remind me of being a kid..
I was that clumsy kid who usually had such accidents like this happen...
I do believe in our house growing up...
Almost every other night .....
Someone at our dinner table would knock over a glass of milk.
Of course it would occur at the same moment
my mother just sat down to join us.
Causing a stir of emotion and chaos at the table.
On some nights... if you were the cause of the spilling...
Your ears would receive the biggest ramble of adult angry garble.
The guilt factor was huge.
I remember when I first started working with kids.
I was doing group home shelter work.
Usually a typical shift would last twelve hours.
So most often.. I would would be making and eating
breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the kids.
I remember like clock work.. every other day...
Someone at the table would knock over a drink.
Always at the moment I was ready to sit down with everyone.
The first time it happened.... I was young and inexperienced.
I wanted to guilt the child and act out the role of my parents.
Because that's how we dealt with this situation at my house.
I caught myself...
In a group home setting... most kids come to you
from a bad family situation, or no family at all.
When most of these kids have an accident... they're already
waiting for the negative reaction to come down on them.
I remember looking at the kid...
He was just waiting for the negative.
Instead.... I thought it out ... treated the kid.. how I wanted to be treated.
Natural consequence... you spill... clean it up... that's all.
Accidents happen.
Part of life.
My parents aren't bad people... far from it.
Its just that you learn as you get older.
Have kids, deal with folks, teach, etc...
That just because that's how you were taught or treated....
doesn't always make it right.
I hate guilt.
Maybe that's my point.
Kids don't need guilt. Neither do adults.
If you got it... drop it.
Its a damaging emotion.
After the soccer ball to the head....
Lesley and I ran into an old college friend
and her husband at the grocery store.
Haven't touched base with anyone from
college since Lesley and I moved back from Seattle.
They told us about a few good friends that had passed away.
All younger guys than me. Guys that I had great respect for.
One of the guys I hung with for twenty years.
Then we lost touch.
He committed suicide.
What I remember most about him... is he carried such guilt.
All the time.
It ate him from within.
Guilt?
Its an old suit that needs to be thrown out and never worn.
I'll be back later...
Off to go do something unruly and unexpected!
Didn't mean to be a "Debbie Downer"...
Not the point..
Just taking it all in!
Talk soon,
-Mike
Here is another Halloween music mix for ya...
A little Halloween doo wop, surf,vintage, and a few goodies.
Love it.... especially in the studio..
So the last two days have been exhausting.
The body is beat.
Took a soccer ball to the head on Monday.
By a ten year old who looked twenty five.
Damn near knocked my head off.
You love moments like this with kids...
It was a total accident.
We went outside with a big group to run out some energy.
Turned to help a student.... wham... into my head.
The entire playground went quiet...
You could hear all the kids gasp...
None of the kids moved...
They all waited to see what would happen...
They had just met me ten minutes before....
Not sure what kind of reaction they they might get...
I'm a big dude..
For many of these kids the adult at home would be freaking...
I'm sure my angry bear like stare with my glasses tilted
and falling off my face scared the hell out of the kid.
In my own head I was rambling in some quick
speaking angry tongue not suitable for children's ears.
My face was throbbing.
Deep inside I was regressing into a nine year old with
bad dodgeball memories of catching the ball with my face.
But let calmness prevail..
I looked at him and the rest of the kids.
Then sternly but yet calmly reminded them about the rules of
kicking and throwing balls on the playground.
Its moments like these that remind me of being a kid..
I was that clumsy kid who usually had such accidents like this happen...
I do believe in our house growing up...
Almost every other night .....
Someone at our dinner table would knock over a glass of milk.
Of course it would occur at the same moment
my mother just sat down to join us.
Causing a stir of emotion and chaos at the table.
On some nights... if you were the cause of the spilling...
Your ears would receive the biggest ramble of adult angry garble.
The guilt factor was huge.
I remember when I first started working with kids.
I was doing group home shelter work.
Usually a typical shift would last twelve hours.
So most often.. I would would be making and eating
breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the kids.
I remember like clock work.. every other day...
Someone at the table would knock over a drink.
Always at the moment I was ready to sit down with everyone.
The first time it happened.... I was young and inexperienced.
I wanted to guilt the child and act out the role of my parents.
Because that's how we dealt with this situation at my house.
I caught myself...
In a group home setting... most kids come to you
from a bad family situation, or no family at all.
When most of these kids have an accident... they're already
waiting for the negative reaction to come down on them.
I remember looking at the kid...
He was just waiting for the negative.
Instead.... I thought it out ... treated the kid.. how I wanted to be treated.
Natural consequence... you spill... clean it up... that's all.
Accidents happen.
Part of life.
My parents aren't bad people... far from it.
Its just that you learn as you get older.
Have kids, deal with folks, teach, etc...
That just because that's how you were taught or treated....
doesn't always make it right.
I hate guilt.
Maybe that's my point.
Kids don't need guilt. Neither do adults.
If you got it... drop it.
Its a damaging emotion.
After the soccer ball to the head....
Lesley and I ran into an old college friend
and her husband at the grocery store.
Haven't touched base with anyone from
college since Lesley and I moved back from Seattle.
They told us about a few good friends that had passed away.
All younger guys than me. Guys that I had great respect for.
One of the guys I hung with for twenty years.
Then we lost touch.
He committed suicide.
What I remember most about him... is he carried such guilt.
All the time.
It ate him from within.
Guilt?
Its an old suit that needs to be thrown out and never worn.
I'll be back later...
Off to go do something unruly and unexpected!
Didn't mean to be a "Debbie Downer"...
Not the point..
Just taking it all in!
Talk soon,
-Mike
4 comments:
so... no concusion? good stories mike, as always... glad you have your calm zen like moments, we ALL need to be reminded : )
awesome post Mike! : )
If only every generation could do it better than the one before. What a nicer world this would be.
now that's a thought provoking post. not a debbie downer at all. actually quite inspirational. Thanks!
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