Updates and a Story

We still haven't heard back from the bank. Why it's taking this long even after opening up our case and making counter offers with us... we do not know. We've decided to go month-to-month on our apartment contract because we don't know where we will be in a few months. House? or the Falls? Patience is the biggest player in short sales. I remember specifically saying a few blog posts ago that patience isn't necessarily something I have mastered... *sigh*

I attended a Q&A Nursing School forum yesterday. Holy moly. It's kind of exciting and definitely overwhelming. I would never want kids during Nursing school. Never. And I would want to be working at least a couple days (or nights) a week when I do have kids... it's important to keep those skills because of how dynamic the medical world is-- because if you don't, you lose skills and you fall behind in the research which I personally think makes the whole gruesome process of going through Nursing school seem like a waste. Let's face it... I could be THAT mom who just needs to escape her kids for a shift here and there... for my sanity.

Enough catch up and let me get to a story...

I kind of embarrassed one of my kids (unintentionally might I add) last week in Sunday School. Max and I are pretty easy going when it comes to the kids wanting to chat before, after, and even during the lesson. We want them comfortable with us and want them to feel like they enjoy coming to Sunday School. But some days... the chatting gets out of hand!

Last week, we tried starting our lesson several times and the kids never really stopped talking (granted there were 1 or 2 kids recognizing what was happening and they tried to get their peers to quit it... but that didn't work this time). So we decided to split the class and each group would teach a portion of the lesson. Brilliant right?

It was interesting seeing who took over as "leader" and what the participation was like. We both thought, "this will be good. If they won't listen to us, they will listen to their peers." WRONG. Well, I guess it was wrong for the... and I hate to say it... the ladies. One of the young women got up during one of the group presentations, walked across the room to sit next to another girl (who was supposed to be presenting) and starting reading off text messages from her phone to her. Now I am in the opposite corner of the room and I can hear their chatter. I was distracted and I was so frustrated at her blatant disrespect towards her peers. So... I told her she could continue her conversation outside if she wanted. Now I've done this sort of thing before, but the kids just let it roll off their shoulders or laugh and it's fine. Nothing too serious and usually they will quiet down. But this time, the reaction was not so casual. She quieted down giving the "raised eyebrow" look (we all know that look). A few minutes later, she left the room and didn't return.

I felt bad because it wasn't my intention to embarrass and I felt bad about making her feel like she needed to leave. It's possible that she was just down right pissed at me, or that she realized she was being rude and was embarrassed for herself... and maybe it was a combination of both. There were different ways I could have handled it better, but I guess that's what life is right? Making mistakes and learning from them. I've got a whole lot of mistakes to make and a whole lot of learning to do. I'm only 23 for goodness sakes! I was just in their shoes not too long ago!

These 17 year old kids are very smart, very insightful, funny and enjoyable to teach and many times we are the ones learning from them. At the end of the lesson, we asked the kids what they experienced or what they had learned. Most of them expressed how frustrating it was for them to get the audience to stop talking. They felt humbled in a way and were able to get a taste for what it's like when you aren't listened to after trying to command attention.

Today... my student didn't return to class. Maybe she was out of town. Maybe she went to another class. Maybe she's still mad. Or embarrassed. But I hope that isn't the case. I have to make this right, and I'm not sure how to do it.

On a lighter note, our lesson today went really well. Lots of participation. Lots of insights. Lots of silly comments, too. Wouldn't be our normal Sunday School class without those :) I'm grateful for our class and our calling. We would much rather be talking to the young kids than to the big adults ;)