More CPR!

 For the second Saturday in a row, I taught CPR.  Last week was at the Y, this week at ISD 196 Black Hawk.  Can I just say that I totally enjoyed both classes?

Last week I was able to train in Marissa who had never taught before.  She was a delight to work with.

This week, it was just a fun group of women in three different classes, save one.  

She walked into CPR for the Professional Rescuer and said, "I can't get on the ground."

Me:  "You will need to be on the ground in order to do CPR."

She:  "I have arthritis in my knees."

Me:  "I have knee pads for you to kneel on."

She:  "You don't understand.  My knees hurt."

What I want to say and what I actually said at this point were two totally different things.  With as much grace and tact as I could . . .

Me:  "If you can't get on the ground to do CPR, I can't pass you in this class."

She:  "My husband said you would do accommodations."

Me:  "I wish you would have called our office.  If you can't get on the ground to do CPR, I can't pass you in this class."

She left. 

Tresor

 

Young Tresor began to suffer from bilateral cataracts which caused him to struggle with reading, writing, and even walking.

His mother, Larissa, was devastatedthat her son was losing his vision at such a young age. Tresor’s mother worried for her son, afraid that the cataracts might cause him to struggle his entire life.  Unable to afford surgery to remove his cataracts, Larissa said she felt paralyzed. “I wondered, will he become a burden? Will he always need to be assisted? It wasn’t easy for me to think of him that way.”

Thankfully, Larissa found hope after hearing about a hospital ship in her country. Larissa brought Tresor to be examined, and before long, he was boarding the Africa Mercy for pediatric eye surgery. Despite any initial fears, the quick, 20-minute procedure was a success!    Because of the medical intervention he received at Mercy Ships, Tresor could see clearly and was quickly able to jump back to regular life. In just a matter of weeks, he was back in school writing, reading, and playing without anything holding him back.

“He can write perfectly now. It’s my joy because I want him to be successful and to be able to do better than I did. I want a better life for my child than I had,” Larissa said. “Now, I’m full of joy, and grateful that Mercy Ships came and gave healing to my child. I’m so happy!”

Thankful Thursday! It's a Three-fer!

THANKFUL THURSDAY #1:  Without a doubt, this brought the biggest smile to my face today!  I am the parent of a peanut/tree nut free child who spent all of her elementary years and middle school years at the peanut free table, a lot of it alone.  

We have a sweet little first grader at OHE who has been sitting, not just alone at the peanut free table, but alone in his long row of tables, with his class across the room.  Yesterday, I asked that all important questions, "Why can't we move his class over to the row of tables adjacent to the peanut free table so they can all sit together?"  

We moved his class today.  His smile radiated across the lunchroom.  His joy was contagious.  He was so excited to sit with his class!  Even though he remains on the peanut free table, his fellow classmates are now in talking distance.  Glorious!

 

THANKFUL THURSDAY #2:  Sonny Boy came home last night, rather excited.  He was asked at work yesterday to be an assistant manager this summer at Como Park.  That's a two position jump and he said, "Yes!".  He'll be working morning hours with a major pay raise.  I am thankful for this new opportunity he's been given!  

 

THANKFUL THURSDAY #3:  All week long, I've been thankful that I can pray.  

A friend asked me to pray for a family situation, and while it wasn't the outcome I was praying for, she assured me it was the next best choice.  I was grateful I could stand with them.  

One of Sam's MWS coworkers has her four-year old daughter in ICU with (you're going to love this diagnosis!) a "mysterious illness".  I've been praying for that girl since birth and am grateful that I can stand in the gap for her.

Another of Sam's MWS coworkers has a husband fighting his second bout of cancer.  While the prognosis is good regarding survival, he's potentially going to have major bowel and bladder issues.  I'm praying for a miracle.  God doesn't have to do a miracle.  But that's what I'm going to ask Him for.   

Another friend has been quite ill, unable to walk.  We continue to pray for him.  Yesterday's note brought hope.  We pray for healing.

Thankful.  Grateful.  That I can pray.

Thankful Thursday!

Lakeville has already closed two different schools for two weeks each due to Covid outbreaks, so we try really hard at recess and lunch to make sure students stay in their clearly marked out specific areas.  We all understand the struggles the kinders have, but the fifth graders?  Really?

Today I was most thankful for the team I work with as we butted heads with a couple of very stubborn and rebellious fifth graders.  I even managed to use a term I haven't used in years - "deliberate act of disobedience".  Hello.  They knew what they were doing.  And they received consequences fitting their (poor) choices.

How do you . . .

. . . find a contact in the swimming pool?  Impossible!  The good news is that's the first one I've ever lost while swimming.  The bad news is driving home was a bit challenging!  The good news is I was going opposite traffic.  The bad news is I'm down a contact!  Oh, well . . . 

Fist Fight!

The kinders provided the WRONG entertainment for the fifth graders at lunch yesterday.  The fifth graders were sitting by the lunch room windows overlooking the playground.  And right there under the basketball hoop, we had a fist fight going!  The person in charge?  Totally oblivious. Until I got on my walkie talkie from the lunchroom and said, "There's a fist fight going on right under the basketball hoop."

Arg . . .

"My hands are cold . . ."

 That's what the little kindergarten girl told me.  I replied, "Put your hands in your pockets."  She replied, "I can't.  That's where my mittens are."