Really Living

On Septmeber 13th, approximately two weeks ago, I began my first week of house parenting. Meadow House, one of the three houses for kids at Salem Children's Village became my home from Wednesday to the following Wednesday. My partner for the week was a great help, a veteran at the job. We laughed a lot, sighed a lot, and shared bits and pieces from our pasts while helping 5 teenage boys with ADHD navigate through each day.

I say teenage, but they range in age from 11 to 15. Sometimes they made me want to run screaming through town like a crazy woman, other times I could have just hugged them til they were blue.

JR, TM, JM, CW, & AP made my week one to remember.

They made me remember what it was like to be a kid again. Every adult seeming to know more and have more power than you. And though I wanted to cut them all some serious slack, it just wasn't possible. I had to keep reminding myself that these kids weren't in placement for being normal. They all had serious issues and still were working through them with case workers, astranged parents, and me... from morning to night.

This is the best way I can think of to explain the relationship between a Salem staff & Salem kid:

The kids are broken vessels--utterly shattered in some places and full of cracks everywhere else. Our job is to pour whatever balm of love & life & energy we can into their vessels, waiting. Because one day those cracks will start to be smoothed over, and after more waiting the holes seem smaller. Sadly, their vessels will always show the cracks and where the holes used to be, long after they've moved on. And still we continue pouring as the children cycle through.

In one week with the kids, I became a fuller person. I saw humanity & love from a new perspective. I appreciated my parents more, my brother more, my husband more. I became more confused about boys in general, but had a lot of fun raising a barn, digging a mine shaft, washing cars, and being a taxi service. And as I left campus after seven days of being a parent, I felt guilty about smiling, because I now loved them so much.