Mentor Monday: Fun and Games

 Mentor Monday:  Fun and Games











I was sprinkled with sarcasm powder from a very early age.  That's why one of my favorite games growing up was this one:

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Seriously, what is better than pulling one of your pawns out of start, knocking out an opponent who thinks they are almost to the safety zone of home and saying "Sooorrryyyy!"?  It is awesome.

In this week's addition of "Mentoring Monday" we played board games.  A said she wanted to play games that weren't video, electric, cellular etc.  I thought this was a great idea.  A good old fashion board game.  I hope those don't get lost because they facilitate some really great times and tons of laughter.  

When I arrived I was surprised to find a mini version of  A there, her name was F and she was the elementary school aged, bus missing, little sister.  Oh how I remember those days.  My sister learned from the early age of 5 that anything she left behind in her half day kindergarten class would be sent home in the afternoon with me.  So she basically left every thing she didn't feel like carrying.  Show and tell objects, the containers that used to hold her birthday cupcakes, her backpack if she was feeling especially lazy.  This is what little sisters do and we love them anyway.

So little sister F got to hang out with us and she kicked our butts.  Seriously.  I never had such a bad game of Sorry in my life.  It took about 15 turns to even get one pawn out of Start.  By then F already had one home.  Once we finally got to the bottom of the cards and reshuffled, A and I were able to get some pawns around the board.  We made a slight comeback when we teamed up on F (that's right, the grown up and the high school-er picking on a little kid) and thought we might have her.  But alas, her lead was too great, the divide to vast, and A and I had to admit defeat to an 11 year old. 

It was fun to see the dynamic between A and her little sister.  It is cute to see the attitude little sisters give big sisters because we are always right (because we are).   I can definitely tell that A takes on a lot of responsibility but she really could get F to help out if she needed. I will talk to her more about that next week.  Next week, we go back to ZUMBA!!!

Mentor Monday: Catch Up Time!

It's a rainy, yucky day and I'm up early for once.  It is also Mentor Monday so I figured I should get on here and blog since I've been away so long.  I really want to keep up the practice of writing but I have a feeling early mornings and late nights are going to be needed to accomplish that.  So with out further ado, I give you

Mentor Monday:

 

I've been meeting pretty consistently with A, my mentee.  Holidays tend to fall on Mondays so we had to adjust the schedule.  Since I am behind I think I'll break it down:

How it is going:

A is a talented, funny, artistic girl who is very much 15 years old.  15 is apparently a very hard year to live through.  I seemed to forget this but when talking to K the intern she reminded me, "Kelly, every day is the worst day of your life when you are 15."  Thinking back, she is right.  10th grade, not so fun.  Moving on.   

It is a challenge to get A to say what she wants to do rather than worrying about what I would like to do.  One meeting we spent coming up with a plan for our meetings because the hour goes by very quickly and I also need to know what to wear.  Doing Just Dance 3 in a black dress and bare feet is not something I want to repeat again.  It took the full hour to come up with a three session plan, which shows you how difficult it was to get her to just say what she wants.

What we've been doing: 

Me trying to copy A's art

A's art...much better than mine

I had to make one for Dolly, K the intern got one too!

The world's worst sugar cookies

Some day, I promise to learn how to do a photo collage, I am sure Picasa makes it easy.  But it's early Monday morning and that is just not happening right now.   

As you can see above, A is an artist so we spent one session drawing, one session coming up with a list, after planning so I could bring work out clothes, we started a ZUMBA video series with the instructional party which really informative.   I've been doing ZUMBA for a few years and for the most part I've just learned as I went along.  Having them moves broken down and taught one by one helped me realize why I trip up some of the steps.  Next time we'll do one of the work outs.  The last session we baked cookies.  The world's worst sugar cookies that everyone else claimed they liked. I  didn't realize that sugar cookies from scratch (as opposed to Betty Crocker) need to set.  These did not set and we had to mix them with a hand mixer because that was all we could fine (at first).  Hand mixer, you know one of these puppies:  

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Not the best way to create cookie dough.  They were thick and dry so we slathered them with homemade lime frosting (once we found a real mixer) and called it a day.  Hopefully her younger siblings enjoyed them, with a big glass of milk.

Going forward:

Tonight I am looking forward to a game night, probably Apples to Apples and then adding to the schedule.  We are going to exercise every other week so next week will probably be ZUMBA.  I am going to continue to encourage her to speak up for herself and tell others what she wants. It isn't an easy thing to do, especially when she takes on a lot of responsibility for her younger brothers and sisters.  Hopefully our sessions are a place where she can be free, confident, and have time to focus just on herself. 

Habitat for Humanity and a Dear John Letter

Dear Running,

As trite as it may sound sound, it's not you, it's me.  I'm just not that into you.  My friends and family tell me how good you are for me.  They tell me how they've fallen in love and want the same for me.  "Just stick with it, it gets better over time."  "Run and then you can eat what you want."  "Trust me, you'll  become addicted."  I feel like I've given it my best shot and it's just not working.

When we first met in  2009, I just wanted to prove I could snag you.  I wanted to take you home to my family on Thanksgiving, so I signed up for the Turkey Trot.  You and I saw each other a few times a week for a couple of months and I felt we were ready for this next step.  And we were.  I ran that 5K better than I thought I could, I beat a friend that I was sure would beat me, when I felt like walking at the end a lady in turkey hat cheered me on.  Sure, a few of my sixth grade students left me in the dust, but I think they just wanted to be at the finish line to cheer us on.  When I crossed the finish line, I had a few tears in my eyes.  I did it.  I proved I could.  That was enough.

We took a break for awhile after that.  When the 2010 Turkey Trot came around, I couldn't show my face at Thanksgiving without you so I signed up again.  We hadn't seen each other in awhile, but I surprisingly finished with a good time.  But a few days later another man asked for my hand and I left you for him and kettlebells.

But now, there is one more event we need to show up together at.  The Rally in Valley on May 12th benefits Habitat for Humanity here in Montgomery County.  Our friends are organizing it, the whole community will be there, and for one last time we need to make an appearance.  I know I've been ignoring you lately and three days of training probably isn't enough.  But hopefully you'll be kind enough to allow me to save face and cross the finish line.  I'm not sure if we'll see each other again after that.  Sure, we'll try to be friends, you'll show up in my work out from time to time, but the pressure of multiple miles with other people watching? I just don't think I can do it anymore.  It's not you, dear running, it's me.

Love always,

Kelly

**Hope to see you all this weekend at "The Rally in the Valley" Duathlon.  It starts at 9am in Fort Hunter NY and benefits Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County, NY.  There is a 5K as well as a Duathlon which is a 5K, a 20mile bike ride, and then another 5K.  I will be running only one 5K thank you very much.  Join us for the race and stay afterward for entertainment, community, and fun!!  More information here  http://www.rallyinthevalleyforhabitat.com/