Corellation is not necessarily causation

I have learned that washing clothes by hand is extremely hard work. Crazy. I spent what felt like an hour washing four pairs of socks. My clothes were soaked from the shower head. Finally, the socks were sufficiently clean (not all the other clothes that still need washing), so I took them outside to dry. There's a long wire where everyone hangs their clothes.

As I stepped out, Harry Potter was sitting there. And it started to rain. I couldn't believe it, it had been a sunny day up to the point when I brought out my socks to dry. I brought them back inside to hang them somewhere in the hallway. And just when I finished hanging them, it stopped raining. So I brought them back out. Harry Potter said to be careful because obviously my socks had power over the rain. And of course, it started rain again, just as I stepped out. But it was only sprinkling, so I risked the chance that it would stop.

We had a carnival for the kids outside today. In the pouring rain. Emphasize pouring. Why did I have to leave my socks outside??

Caught some kids smoking. They denied it at first, but the smell was clearly there. After emphasizing the importance of telling the truth, and the amount of respect one gains from being able to tell the truth, they were willing to admit that they were smoking. We had a discussion on the negative effects of smoking. But I did not command them to stop smoking. I said that it was my preference that they not smoke, and focus on fulfilling their potential. I asked that they make the decision for themselves, as young men. These kids are 11, 12? I wanted to give these kids the ability to develop respect for themselves, that their opinions mattered, and that they could make decisions for themselves that depended on their own thoughts, rather than external factors like peer pressure. I wanted them to feel like they were making a positive decision, instead of being punished. Was I taking the right tact in dealing with this matter?

I hope that every single lesson I give to these kids is taken seriously. They seem to be listening on some fronts, but not on others. They don't fight as much anymore. Some of them have really responded to the talks on leadership. Some of them have responded to the talks on helping those who can't do things on their own. A lot of them still disrespect each other, while others have become very good friends. Is this really working? I don't know. But I hope that these kids are really learning. We are so limited as ST, and also, the local rules complicate things, so that we can only use allegories, stories, lessons, and so on, without being able to discuss what we really want. Frustrating, but also so positive when we see some of these kids actually growing. :)

They stopped calling me Bobby Wawa. I'm not sure what it is they call me right now. I'm trying to figure it out.

Eric's a superstar. He made pizza for all the kids, and for most of them, it was the first time they've ever tasted pizza. Today, kids were bringing him gifts. Not just any gifts. Porcelain figurines, hourglasses, etc. We had some pizza too, it was great. But it was insane about how much it filled up my stomach. My stomach seems to have shrunk, and pizza doesn't seem to fit in there as well as it used to.

I hit my head. There's a small gash there. I was in the home ec room, watching some of the YC's home ec students make pizza, according to Eric's recipe. On the way out, the door frame is really low, and I crashed into it and fell down. Which gave me a nice burn on my right forearm. I'd forgotten what peroxide feels like.... It seems like we're becoming the walking wounded. Bryan sprained his ankle. Carrie's immune system has acted up. Sarah has a bit of a fever. Please think about us. :)

We're entering our last week with the kids. Oh please keep them in mind. Also, we planted some seeds the other day. With the rain here, these plants should also be able to grow really well. But who am I to say? Big daddy says that they could grow well. I hope they do, the beans would be great.


Bobby (something? not Wawa anyway)