Volunteer

After a long weekend, I started a new volunteer gig today at the elementary school just a few blocks down the road. I was basically a lunch room/playground monitor. I hung out with the kindergarteners while they ate and then watched them play. I talked to a lot of them, introducing myself by my first name. Some of them came up to me with no introduction and asked they could go to the bathroom. Some introduced me to all of their friends. Unfortunately, while we were inside the school, I could barely hear a thing and realized the racket was making me a little crazy. I always try and carry some ear plugs and I realized I needed to put them in during the indoor portion of the event. It helped a bit. I learned a few names and talked to more and more of the kids after we got outside for recess. I focused on keeping them from hitting each other and stomping on each other's feet. I worked on separating the kids that were having the most aggressive interaction. Overall, it was energizing and felt great to be around the kids. I let them come to me and many of them did. I didn't try and force conversations. Kids at this age are kind of wild and I loved it! 

While the tutoring I used to do could be satisfying, the last few years, during and "after" the pandemic were mostly frustrating. I didn't have a regular student, the remote tutoring was frustrating, and even after we went back in person things weren't right. My last school had a really disorganized program. Often we had no kids to tutor at all. I never saw the same kid regularly and that was it for me. They tried to get me to come back but the work just didn't speak to me anymore. 

Being a calm (haha) adult presence seems about right. Some kids asked my name, if I was someone's Mom (no, I live in the neighborhood), and one said "I like you" which is huge from a 5/6-year-old. I got some spontaneous hugs--heartwarming but also a little troubling. I had a long talk with one girl who sat next to me on a bench. Another boy introduced himself and also talked to me for a long time, though I had a harder time following his conversation. There were a lot of kids--probably over 50--but my goal is to learn all of their names. That is going to take a few weeks but I think I can do it. 

Grateful for: new opportunities.