Frigid Monday

It is COLD today... very cold. One of those days that if you leave your hands out of your pockets they get raw quickly... thank goodness for mittens. (Yes I prefer mittens over gloves!) I put this picture up in hopes of warming up.

Before I get too far into the blog I wanted to answer a question that Torben left in the comment section... he asked if my knee is still swollen....and he has the same incision in the back that I have... Torben, my swelling has really decreased and I would say my knee has pretty much returned to its normal size... though I wish my legs were more toned right now... I am working on that. I have noticed that it gets a little swollen after a really long day. Today, things were pretty icy... and I walk so carefully on ice that I think I tighten my muscles up and feel sore later. Torben, does the cold weather bother your knee? What about other people?


Today was the first practice for the middle school team I coach... and within the first... well three minutes or so I made a kid cry! I was like, whaaaaat just happened? His sister asked him if he brought clothes to change into and he said he was going to practice in the uniforms... I told him that uniforms are just for meets and that he needs to wear shorts or sweat pants to practice each day. I think it threw him off.. he is tiny.... a 6th grader... and I think he was feeling a bit overwhelmed at being there...another kid suggested he just wear the sweatpants he was wearing... and he told the kid to shut up... I told him that was not acceptable team behavrior and to be on the team he needed to be respectful.... TEARS... I gave him a few minutes, went over to him and told him that it was going to be ok.. that if needed he could sit and watch today and join in tomorrow when he had different clothing. He tried to ignore me, but as I walked away I heard this little voice...I will trip over my pants... and he was right... he is very small and his pants were way too long for him... he had them folded way up and safety pinned to keep them up.... then he asked, does the nurse have any extra shorts? I had him go check...and she didn't... but he came back... and seemed to be a bit more composed. This kid is going to be a challenge.. I like him already. As practice began he tried hard to be grumpy... and only did some of the drills that we do... saying he needed a break. One of the other coaches came up to me and asked what the deal was... and I relayed the story.. he laughed...and said YOU?? YOU made a kid cry? Of all people... I CAN'T believe it... YOU are the nice one! As practice continued, he seemed to loosen up a bit... and I went over to him and asked him if he had shorts at home that he could bring for practice. He told me he could bring his swim trunks or his jean shorts....neither are good options for running. So I told him that I had some nephews who have outgrown their clothes and if I knew his size I may be able to round up some shorts for him. (My nephews clothing gets recycled from one brother to the other..plus I have no access to their clothes living so far away...)I got the impression that this kid would not accept someone buying something new for him because of pride...but may accept taking something that another kid had used...so he asked his sister what size clothes he wears because he did not know... and told me. So I went shopping tonight... at Walmart and spent $15 on some clearance items... a t-shirt, 2 pairs of shorts, and a pair of windpants... thinking that when we have the kids run outside he may need something a bit warmer... I am going to ask the principal if he will reimburse me.. but even if he doesn't... so be it. The clothes are small... smaller than what I would buy for my 8 year old nephew... but I still am worried that they are too big... So I am trying to strategize on how to have him try them on... with the tags... so that if they are too big I can exchange them... I am thinking I will go to the nurse's office and have the nurse call him down to her office and have him try them on... I think that would be ok... I don't want to make him feel weird in any way... it's such a hard balance. I have bought clothing for kids before... kids who needed that... but always attached it to a task or contest that I knew the kid could complete or win... pride is such an important thing... I just hope that he sticks with track... I think he will since his sister is also doing track... I hope he does.... Also, I am very excited because I got one kid to join the team as a manager... he is a kid I work with daily and he is a sweet kid... I can so see him as a manager for a basketball team as he gets older, but he is so shy... so I am trying to get him involved and get to know some other kids. I have never had a manager before, so I am trying to create tasks for him to do. He seemed to be into it today, so I hope he sticks with it too...and secretly hope that he will ask us if he can compete some week. I also got to meet a parent of one of the other kids on the team... a kid who I also happen to teach in one of my math classes. I was so happy to meet his mom and she told me that he says so much about me at home... and was SOOO happy I encouraged him to get involved with track.

I then went to class... and it was one of those brain frying classes... good discussion, but a lot to think about. The good news is that I think I have a partner for the big paper we have to write at the end of the semester. We can have a group of 2-3 people. One guy that is in my class apparently was in my school law class last spring... I feel bad, but I don't remember him... oops... so we talked about joining forces to do the paper... there is also one other person in the class that I would work with, someone who teaches with Phil.... if he needs to be in a group I think the three of us could make it work.

Anyway... I am home... and now that i have blogged...feel a little like I can relax. Hope you are all staying warm!