A Weird Day

So, yesterday was just a bizarre day. I have no idea what was in the air but here's what happened.

First of all, I suddenly realized that with the students I have this semester, they would probably finish their debates really quickly and I'd have to have something planned for after their debates. I threw a few things together, hoping that they would work and crossed my fingers that I wouldn't need to use it. Luckily, my kids went above and beyond in their debates. The delivery of some wasn't great but in general, their arguments were pretty solid. Except for one kid. This kid is NOT a public speaker but we all have to do things we don't like doing. Anyway, his debate had some great statistic but it took him about three minutes. His opponent, a more confident public speaker, gave a great argument. Debater number 1 stood up for his rebuttal, stood there for a moment, then crumpled up his paper and said "I don't have anything to say." I asked him if he was sure, because part of the debate points were doing a rebuttal. He nodded and was about to sit down, when one of his classmates spoke up. "You can do it. I believe in you!" It was like from a movie. The entire class joined in, telling him he had some great stats and they knew he could do it. Finally, he stood back up, said a few things, which was so much better than doing nothing. I was so proud of the empathy exhibited by my students. At the end of each debate, I asked the students to share one thing the debates did well and one thing they could have done better. The students talking about debater #1 were so encouraging, even with what he could have improved upon.

This student showed up in my office about twenty minutes later, sobbing. Man, do I not envy mental health professionals. I had no idea what to say. We talked through what was stressing him out, which went into a discussion about why he feels like he's inferior, or why he was having so many breakdowns this year. He used up a lot of Kleenex in the process. I encouraged him to think about talking to the counselor because they were a lot more skilled than I am. It is exhausting and I give many props to those who do this every day (especially Megan!). It's hard to figure out what to say and not touch any nerves and be able to be encouraging without frustrating them or just saying platitudes or anything like that. I'm hoping he talks some of this out because he's an intelligent kid who has a lot to offer.

That afternoon, I was preparing to get some work done outside since it's been gorgeous lately and I was tired of being stuck in the house. It was not only sunny but finally warm and I sat down on my dinosaur blanket to get some work and some reading done. At some point, the daughter of the neighbor from across the street came over with her dog. We chatted for a bit about working the College, I asked her where she worked, we discussed living with your parents versus living by yourself and then, somehow, I'm still not quite sure how, she was telling me all about her writings and the stories that she comes up with. Now, I know all about writing stories. But she spent literally 45 minutes telling me all about her stories. I love my stories and I love writing them (especially now when I have the time) but I'm not going to subject anyone to my nonsense ramblings. One was about a religious family but the daughter also finds out that she's a spiritual medium. Another one was about this Pakistani woman who has Indian extended family and somehow she's also in an arranged marriage with someone in the US. There was a third pretty much the plot of "Gold" by Chris Cleve, just a bit more dramatic. They all have morals at the end. It was just strange but somehow I ended up offering to read and edit them. I think it was heatstroke. I had been out there at this point for more than an hour listening to her. I don't even know, guys. I may have gotten in too deep unexpectedly.

Also, the downstairs neighbor's first dog (the yappy one) apparently bit her so she brought it back to the shelter and now has a new one. This one wins, which I guess is better than yapping. Also, the next door house has people moving in. I haven't met them yet. I do know they own a hula hoop. Apparently the neighbors that moved out were the cousins of the guy who lives in the next door downstairs apartment. The things you learn when you sit outside on your dinosaur blanket...

Then I decided to watch like three episodes of "Call the Midwife" and cried at the end of every single one. This is not a healthy show for me to be watching. But, in true addictive form, I cannot stop.

Guys, it was a weird day. That is all.