My son's school releases early each Wednesday to allow teachers to prepare and train. With that, I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to take a couple of hours to give back. So my son and I came up with some choices about what we could do: we could volunteer at a local donation center - helping them organize donations; we could volunteer at the animal shelter - walking dogs or playing with cats; or we could volunteer at an assisted living facility.
His choice?? "Let's volunteer at the assisted living center!"
Interesting, and not what I expected from a 9-year old boy. But - then again, do our children ever do exactly what we think they're going to do? You'd think I'd have learned by now. I had some trepidations - 9-year old boys can be boisterous - and can sometimes say things off-the-cuff that might not be appreciated by folks of a certain age. But, he'd made his decision. So I explained to him that he would need to be patient and careful - some of these folks might be in poor health. I also explained that they might not remember everything - and might smell different...
He rolled his eyes, "Mom, I know."
Okay.... So, each Wednesday from 1-3 we now get together with residents at a local assisted living home. We usually play games - the favorites are dominoes or Skip-Bo. At first the people working there thought we were a little odd - not a lot of 9-year old boys want to volunteer there apparently when they don't have a family member in residence. But now, they've gotten used to us - and we're just one of the gang.
My son holds court with the ladies - he remembers each of their names, helps them with walkers, is patient if they fall asleep during the game, never comments inappropriately, and always greets the others walking by. The first time we went and played, I knew we'd made the right connection. We were playing dominoes and one of the ladies was keeping score. Well, her math was a bit off - and in the end she "won." In actuality - my son won. But he didn't say a word.
On the way out the home that day I said, "What did you think?"
"It was good, Mom. I really enjoyed it. Can't wait to go back!"
"You know, I noticed that you actually won that game...."
"I know, Mom. But I really felt that Ann needed a win more than I did."
Sigh. In these moments my heart fills. From then on out, I decided that he should keep score - and make more of the decisions.
