Obsessed with my Job. Part One.

Oh hey not posting for like two weeks!

Uuuupdate:

I started working full-time 43 hours after graduating from college. This would have been a bad idea except that...

I love my job. LOVE my job. I. Freaking. Love. My. Job. So much I basically feel like it shouldn't be allowed. I am working for an AWESOME program that works with/for low-income families, as a "Home-Based Teacher". Basically what this means: I am in their "early" program, which is babies from pre-born (prenatal care for pregnant mamas!) through 3 year olds (as opposed to 3-5yos). I have 10 families, each of whom I meet with weekly. I come to their homes and do a pre-school-esque, age-appropriate lesson with the baby or toddler. Think lots of reading (YAY!!!!!), lots of simple, sensory-focused toys and games, lots of puzzles, lots of counting and colors and "Oh wow, this texture is different, huh?!!".

Oh and did I mention... it's all in SPANISH?!!!!
(Friends from Bolivia, you may commence laughing hysterically... now. Yeah, get excited to come back to the States. "Really sucky at Spanish in Bolivia" somehow translates to "Bilingual" here. It's pretty awesome.)

Almost all of my families are Mexican immigrants. I am pretty much in love with all of them (today I told Mary I saw one of my "favorite" moms, and then I realized I've said that about the last three I met with). In addition to working with the baby, we are there to provide social support for whatever the family needs- translating, answering questions, trying to provide some insight into the systems, and maybe most importantly just trying to help connect the family with the awesome resources they already have- within themselves and their surrounding community. We try to point out the parents'/families' own great strengths, focusing on coming alongside them to support them as they raise their kids.

So in the past week, I: went with a mom and her baby and 2 year old to get a library card, set up a doctor appointment (after a valiant effort on the mom's part to find a translator), gave out the number for a speech therapist, found out how someone can apply for a free medical card, held a three-month-old baby with the softest black hair you've ever seen, oohed and aahed as a two year old put wooden blocks into their corresponding properly shaped holes, searched for a Spanish copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting", discussed healthy marital communication (this is part of my job, but I must say I feel very young and inadequate for some of these conversations... hi, I'm 21, how's your marriage going?), pointed out how great a job a mom did at patiently helping her child work with blocks, talked about how easy and discouraging it is to compare yourself to other moms/people, apologized for how much my Spanish sucks, read Clifford El Perro Rojo (and received a wide-eyed realization that "La Maestra es Emily, como la amiga de Clifford!!"- the teacher is Emily, just like Clifford's friend!!), read Pat the Bunny and got excited over different textures, discussed ways to incorporate vegetables into meals and to find time for family walks, played LOTS of peek-a-boo... and of course... gave and received muchos besitos.

Did I mention I love my job?

I am so privileged to get to be knowing these families, playing with and delighting in these children as they learn, and doing whatever I can to strengthen people who already have more strength than I seriously could ever imagine.