Day of Play

Happy Child Life Week my CL friends!! I hope you’re having a great time celebrating and feeling appreciated at home. Please package up our free lunch for me, label it and keep it in the fridge until I get home. I don’t want to miss out on that goodness! ☺ You really are amazing at what you do. I know sometimes you feel misunderstood or under appreciated, but having seen what it’s like without you around I appreciate more than ever the work that you do. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the mundane. Really use this week to remember what you do and why you do it. So many people have been telling me that portions of this blog have moved them to tears, but the funny thing is – each of you is impacting lives in the exact same way, just in a different area of the world. Take a moment today and really appreciate yourself and the powerful way you impact the lives of kids – you’ll inspire yourself! ☺

Today was another good day. I learned a lot about myself as a CLS. I only had three kids assigned to me this morning. Some of the kids had gone home, and with 3 of us working on one unit, sometimes the distribution makes numbers sparse. I’m also working mostly with the kids in the isolation bay, so I try not to mingle too much with the other kids. Anyway, you would think with only 3 kids I might have the opportunity to feel bored or think there was nothing to do (probably a typical response when I’m at home), but here I feel like I have to take advantage of every moment I’m here, so I had plenty of time to do some very quality interventions with the three kids I had.

I fed and played with a little baby for quite some time this morning. She 8 months old, but looks about 2 or 3 months, so we were able to work on all sorts of developmental fun. She worked on holding her head up, grasping rattles, babbling, waving, clapping (with lots of assistance), and she thoroughly enjoyed the awe and wonder of peek-a-boo. She even tried to cover her face with the blanket a few times, but wasn’t strong enough to get it there. ☺ It’s amazing to see the progress she has been able to make in the last few weeks with good medical care and some quality stimulation and TLC.

"Missy" and I read books most of the morning. She speaks Afrikaans, so I know she doesn’t know what I’m saying, but the rhythm of the stories was melodic, so she stayed attentive for a long time. She looked at all the pictures and I hope just being able to hear my voice was soothing. After reading, I held her until she fell asleep.

Both those examples of what I did today I know seem very simple, but it’s amazing to see the power behind those simple acts. Slowly, but surely theses kids are responding and making positive improvements based on these interventions. So once again CL friends, don’t sell yourselves short!

Later in the morning we ended up having a spontaneous playgroup. A lot of kids ended up in this long room with windows next to the bays. They were playing games, kicking balls, laughing and moving in ways I hadn’t seem the willingly move in a long time. Play is such a powerful tool, especially group play. I think it’s interesting to see how these kids can lie next to each other in their rooms and see each other’s wounds, yet not truly relate or begin to form bonds until they have the opportunity to play. That’s when they feel accepted. That’s when they get the chance to feel normal. It’s awesome. Tomorrow we’re planning our first official scheduled playgroup. It’s been one of my goals since I came here and tomorrow it will happen! We’re even going to try and see if part of the long window room can be converted into our official play area. We went shopping for group supplies today after work. I’m so excited! I know it’s weird – when is the last time I got this excited for playgroup?! ☺ But that’s the point I’ve been trying to make all along. Being here helps me see what a huge difference the things we do on a daily basis have on the kids. Because of that new vision, my role becomes less of a job and more of an opportunity. I’m not doing things because I have to anymore, I’m doing them because I want to and because I can see the difference they make in the response the kids have to hospitalization. No longer am I doing bedside play because I need to get a certain quota in during the day, I’m doing it because I can see the healing and therapeutic power it has for these kids. I really hope that this new vision remains with me when I go home – you all can keep me accountable! ☺

Well, that’s all my ramblings for the day. I’ll step off my soapbox and go make a CD for the treatment room. The other day one of the sister’s turned on the radio for the treatments, but unfortunately the only station that came in was heavy metal – not so soothing. I’m hoping I have enough relaxing stuff on my i-tunes to make it work. Do you think Mmm-Bop translates into Afrikaans? That song always makes me feel better! ☺