Kids Crisis Center

Thanks for the suggestion on the fake name for the center. I want to respect privacy and figure this is the best way to blog about my experiences with the nursery and not risk sharing too much information.

Monday was my second time volunteering for Kids Crisis Center and I am even more sure that this is the right place for me.

Location wise allows me to give more time due to them being a 5 minute drive so that is really nice.

There were three different children there this week. I want to write about the twins that were there. I am going to call them Sam and Sally. I was told that Sam has autism and Sally has some behavior issues and really tries to protect Sam and will bite Sam and others.

I didn't see anything that said autism to me when I seen Sam. Not to say he doesn't have it but the thought did cross my mind as there is nothing wrong with him. Then, I told myself.. Who am I to judge? What do I know after 3 hours? Yes. I see behavior issues but I don't know this kids history. It's a reminder to remember that this is the kind of thoughts I get upset with when it comes to people question my son's DX.

Sally didn't do any biting or hitting but it was known by her calling out for Sam when he was upset that she looks out for him.

At the nursery,after lunch, they have quiet time. They put cots on the floor and put on a movie and the kids are to lay down and hopefully sleep. This next part might make you go awwwww

Sally wasn't wanting to lay down. She was just sitting there and you could tell she wanted to get up. I got down on the floor and layed down near the cot and talked her into laying down. I started rubbing her back. She then got off the cot and layed right up next to me. We were cuddling and I was rubbing her back. It was a little bitter sweet for me. It's the first time that I can recall that I actually layed down and cuddled with a girl.

She went to sleep right next to me. I did grab her pillow so hopefully she was comfortable. Sam was the only child who didn't nap at all and they ended up just laying him play to prevent him from screaming and waking the others.

The more time I spend at Kids Crisis Center the more that I know that this is the place I want to donate my time to. She told me that the twins parents have two other children and they encourage them to drop them off.

I would think "crisis" would mean an emergency or something popped up that they needed care. However, it seems like the workers see that they can help families so much more than that. They can help avoid a true crisis by giving the family a much needed break.

The part that I haven't shared yet is that Kids Crisis Center is actually connected with the adoption agency that gave me the free counseling for adoption loss.