Darling, it's cold outside...
7 degrees. I must say, I did feel a tad of pride and a bit of "hey, look at me" as I walked quickly to my car this morning at 6:30am or so. I thought, this isn't that bad. But as soon as I got in the car, the feeling of cold seemed to crawl into my bones, breath and sight. Not pleasant. I had to drive to work wearing my mittens as the steering wheel was too frozen to handle with my bare hands.
It might get worse in a week but tomorrow is supposed to be 30 or so. I'm glad or else I'd have to live on soup to warm us all up.
Oddly, I had a good day with my elderly client...I guess I'm used to her ways and if I make sure to address certain quirks, they don't build up and she relaxes. Poor thing, she's like a sweet old bear. :) And yes, bears get grumpy too.
I made a huge pot of vegetable soup when I came home...several different cans of beans, corn, hominy, tomato paste and bouillon cubes made it quite good. I added a sprinkle of Lipton onion soup (the kind you add to sour cream for dip...just a sprinkle for onion taste. Jon liked it a lot. Oh, and leftover rice. Very good.
I started to feel grouchy but picked up around the house instead of napping. Finally, after feeling really cranky, I conked out. It's one of those days where a lot of energy is zapped out of you just by trying to keep warm outside. Mr. Nelson was rather smart as he only went out when he knew he could get in really fast. Smart dog.
Yesterdays volunteer work was mostly all right. It seems that the party people (there was a party going on the day we volunteered) seemed to think they could tell parents to go and drop their kids off at the party (and leave them to run wild through the whole house...all 4 levels), tear up the place and not put one thing back. The party people did do most of the cleaning in the party rooms but let me just say, I spent a good 30 minutes sweeping and straightening. Jon did the organizing on the two upper levels and I swept up the basement (which really, really needs a filter as I can't stand the dust). I'm sorry but letting kids go unsupervised for 3 hours is sort of crazy to me...plus, it gives a bad impression to families that are really visiting the museum with the kids.
At one point, as I was watching the lobby, a kid (about 2 or 3) wanted to play with the old piano in there. I had to say no, while his mom tried to explain it had do not touch on it. When he tried to force the lid open (I caught it in my hand not to fall on his fingers, but crushing mine) he became irate and before I knew it was swinging punches at me and kicking! I looked at the mom who was sort of embarrassed looking and she said in the calmest voice, time to go home now. I was like, "oh, my God." I don't think my kids would have ever swung punches/kicked a perfect stranger. I have no idea what this kid is like at home, I know he was most likely tired (and very spoiled to say the least)but I was glad to see them go in the next 5 minutes. I would have been totally ashamed if this were my kid, so I hope the mom isn't too mortified. I hope the kid isn't like this all the time...sometimes you have to punish someone and see who might be bullying that little fellow.
Anyway, I think some of the rooms might be better left closed off if there is a party going on. Mostly the basement as there was sand all over the place...the party room, the bathroom, all over the steps, and lobby. It's like the popcorn that got all over the library when they hosted a games day at my old library. It was rather horrible and just made a crazy time and clean up.
Also, how do you get people to clean up at a place like a kids museum? Do you limit resources for that day? Ask people to help? Kids to put away things? I think so or the load falls on the volunteers and just makes for very trashy visitors who don't care about the space. I guess I'm old fashioned in that sense. If you visit some place, you put away the things you took out and this is a courtesy/respect to your host. I think one way is to have someone rewarded (either verbally or by an actual small reward (sticker) for those who clean up). Since we're dealing with kids, it has to be something like this and since the parents have been allowed to leave (by the party host) and the kids are breaking rules (parent's are supposed to be with the kids at all times), this would be a two part system.
I could see why this would also make it hard to keep volunteers. Just something to address at the meeting, I guess. Oh, I just had a brain blast (as Jimmy Neutron would say). Have ALL guests entering the museum (party or not) sign in and give their number/address. This is good for kids and adults as well. I like this idea...because it also means we have someone to write to should a mighty terror show up or send flyers for upcoming events. :)
It might get worse in a week but tomorrow is supposed to be 30 or so. I'm glad or else I'd have to live on soup to warm us all up.
Oddly, I had a good day with my elderly client...I guess I'm used to her ways and if I make sure to address certain quirks, they don't build up and she relaxes. Poor thing, she's like a sweet old bear. :) And yes, bears get grumpy too.
I made a huge pot of vegetable soup when I came home...several different cans of beans, corn, hominy, tomato paste and bouillon cubes made it quite good. I added a sprinkle of Lipton onion soup (the kind you add to sour cream for dip...just a sprinkle for onion taste. Jon liked it a lot. Oh, and leftover rice. Very good.
I started to feel grouchy but picked up around the house instead of napping. Finally, after feeling really cranky, I conked out. It's one of those days where a lot of energy is zapped out of you just by trying to keep warm outside. Mr. Nelson was rather smart as he only went out when he knew he could get in really fast. Smart dog.
Yesterdays volunteer work was mostly all right. It seems that the party people (there was a party going on the day we volunteered) seemed to think they could tell parents to go and drop their kids off at the party (and leave them to run wild through the whole house...all 4 levels), tear up the place and not put one thing back. The party people did do most of the cleaning in the party rooms but let me just say, I spent a good 30 minutes sweeping and straightening. Jon did the organizing on the two upper levels and I swept up the basement (which really, really needs a filter as I can't stand the dust). I'm sorry but letting kids go unsupervised for 3 hours is sort of crazy to me...plus, it gives a bad impression to families that are really visiting the museum with the kids.
At one point, as I was watching the lobby, a kid (about 2 or 3) wanted to play with the old piano in there. I had to say no, while his mom tried to explain it had do not touch on it. When he tried to force the lid open (I caught it in my hand not to fall on his fingers, but crushing mine) he became irate and before I knew it was swinging punches at me and kicking! I looked at the mom who was sort of embarrassed looking and she said in the calmest voice, time to go home now. I was like, "oh, my God." I don't think my kids would have ever swung punches/kicked a perfect stranger. I have no idea what this kid is like at home, I know he was most likely tired (and very spoiled to say the least)but I was glad to see them go in the next 5 minutes. I would have been totally ashamed if this were my kid, so I hope the mom isn't too mortified. I hope the kid isn't like this all the time...sometimes you have to punish someone and see who might be bullying that little fellow.
Anyway, I think some of the rooms might be better left closed off if there is a party going on. Mostly the basement as there was sand all over the place...the party room, the bathroom, all over the steps, and lobby. It's like the popcorn that got all over the library when they hosted a games day at my old library. It was rather horrible and just made a crazy time and clean up.
Also, how do you get people to clean up at a place like a kids museum? Do you limit resources for that day? Ask people to help? Kids to put away things? I think so or the load falls on the volunteers and just makes for very trashy visitors who don't care about the space. I guess I'm old fashioned in that sense. If you visit some place, you put away the things you took out and this is a courtesy/respect to your host. I think one way is to have someone rewarded (either verbally or by an actual small reward (sticker) for those who clean up). Since we're dealing with kids, it has to be something like this and since the parents have been allowed to leave (by the party host) and the kids are breaking rules (parent's are supposed to be with the kids at all times), this would be a two part system.
I could see why this would also make it hard to keep volunteers. Just something to address at the meeting, I guess. Oh, I just had a brain blast (as Jimmy Neutron would say). Have ALL guests entering the museum (party or not) sign in and give their number/address. This is good for kids and adults as well. I like this idea...because it also means we have someone to write to should a mighty terror show up or send flyers for upcoming events. :)
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