Today, I made a child happy.
I found a toy a child thought was lost.

Not much in the scheme of things, but H can be "difficult" sometimes.
He was genuinely upset.
And he was so happy, and thanked me so formally and politely (words) and so genuinely (grin) when I found it.

He'll be back to his rambuctious best next time I see him, but for a couple of minutes a plastic fish solved every problem he had in the world.

Those are the moments, eh Sundae? :) Is "H" your assigned child?

Sadly, I don't even know what "my" child looks like yet :(
I can't be introduced to him in case my Enhanced CRB uncovers something that my basic CRB doesn't cover - like the fact I'm a raging paedo. I do completely understand of course, it's just frustrating in my circumstances.

I do love the children with behaviour issues though *
And oddly, they have always attached themselves to me.
The first being my Mum's friend's child, who tried to strangle my brother when they were both pre-school. I was 12.

H (the child mentioned above) definitely has "issues" and I can't always get through. So it was just wonderful to be able to do something for him. In fact I gave him a house point because he thanked me. Positive reinforcement.

* Please note these are children who have been assessed as having behavioural issues - "my" school has a specialist language centre, a speech therapist, a physical therapist, regular assessments from the child psychology team and plenty of things I don't know about yet. If the children are identified as having behavioural problems it's not in ignorance.

I found one of the "long lost library books"

Under the couch or the bed?

in a box with stuff dated last november, in the front room. I did find a not so long lost one under the sofa and none under the bed. those places are checked more regularly.

:) Have no fear, there's no malice in the label "behavioral issues." A diagnosed cause doesn't change the end result. The important thing is for people to know that traditional discipline--especially physical discipline--is not only ineffective for children with these types of underlying issues, it will probably make them worse. Finding the lost toy probably gave him even more relief than he showed you.

Thanks Clod, I know you get it, but I so often hear comments on the radio or read them in my parents' dreadful paper about badly behaved children being pandered to when really all they need is a good clip round the ear. I'm guilty myself of wishing some children could be seen and not heard in public places, but I certainly don't advocate a violent response. And the thing is, with many such children you can see the bad parenting in action. Whereas the parents of children who really have issue are calm and rational and give measured responses.

I was given a free copy of a cookbook to review. It still takes me aback when people believe me to be legitimate.

That doesn't go away, you know, just because you take a break from it. ;)

New user title for you:
Fiercely proud of my unmarried parents

Eggnog. Yet another sign God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Snowballs and snowmen. Tons of fun. Also snow forts -- we seldom muster sufficient snow expertise or sufficient drifted, lightly packed snow, period, to achieve a classic igloo -- in any snowy bit of the States. Which igloo is a snow shelter you ought not to warm the interior of much above 40 F, roughly 7 C. Which is a heck of a lot easier to deal with than -40 F or C, with wind.

But a snow-fort resists snowballs pretty darn well. It's cover in the snowball fights.

Sledding, tubing and tobogganning are fun rides down a slippery slope, but almost inevitably eventually get you wet and cold from snow getting in here and there in the excitement.

That said, I do not miss snow. Not at all. It was a nuisance to have to put on about enough clothes to make a space suit just to go outside. Glare ice on the road is bloody dangerous; driving on a snowy road is at least tolerable, being like driving in rain but 7 kph slower.

The letters L, L and S, now that they are gone.

Whew!