I blew up a balloon and gave it to him.  He was already on his back on the floor, in the exact position I was going to ask him to take- before I even handed him the balloon.

It stinks.

There, I said it.  This new "normal" just stinks.  

This is where I'm at on July 30th, 2020, and I'm sure many of you are right here with me. 

Goal.

It's number 2 on our "schedule" for sessions with clients- right after our Brain Gym® settling in activity called PACE. 

"Are the challenges similar, among the kids at Brain Fit?" a family member recently asked me.

We all have a story.  

The story of our life.  

It begins and ends with us. 

It takes twists and turns based on choices we make.

"This felt different to me. It felt deeply engrained. Like on a primal level she felt too vulnerable lying in that chair having somebody tower over her in her mouth."

There's a one-on-one connection with my clients that I think is very special. As I've mentioned before, I've worked with children most of my life in some capacity or another but this type of connection is different.

Isn't everything supposed to go right? I mean, not everything goes right- I get that. And I know that life is full of ups and downs. 

I know this isn't everyone's game, but I enjoy learning new things. New experiences, working and expanding my brain, trying out things I've never done before- it's fun for me. I was just at a training yesterday, and throughly enjoyed it!

There it lay- on the carpet, half of the air out of it, deflated and saggy. It was my Big Green Ball. Yes, I actually named it that. 

As we get older, we sometimes forget to play.  Everyone (myself included) are so busy. We're working, driving the kids to their sports, clubs, or friends' houses, running errands and just generally trying to keep up with ourselves.

Sometimes, you can just get "stuck". Emotionally stuck. It may be for a day, a few weeks, or even for years. But just- stuck.

If you'd never heard of an apple, then you wouldn't know to eat one, correct? Or- if you'd never seen or knew that a phone existed, you wouldn't be looking to call your friend from one.

I've always worked with kids. It started in junior high school when I would babysit for local neighborhood kids. When I was a junior in high school I started working after school for an after-school program, working with elementary aged kids. And my college major? Yup- you guessed it, Elementary Education.

I was on Facebook this morning and someone shared this beautiful video of children singing. (See full post for video)

It's June 2020. Unfortunately, these words are commonplace right now:

Pandemic.

Lockdown.

COVID-19.

Remote work & school.

Stress.

I looked up at his mother. He had just excused himself to go to the bathroom and we both knew why.

It was so that he could cry-privately.

"How are you feeling- about going into client's homes?" Pam asked me as we walked up to a client's front door. "Good!" I replied. "If you asked me that question six months ago, I'm not sure I would have had the same answer, but I'm good!".

Deer are beautiful, majestic animals, aren't they? Sleek bodies, stealthy stride and deep, mysterious eyes. But what happens when deer are afraid? The "deer in the headlights look" we call it.

There were smiles all around as he and his mother told me the news.  He was sleeping in his own room for the first time in over two years!  This ten year old boy had been working with me for about 4-5 months at the time and had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor of his parent’s bedroom because he was too scared to sleep alone.