Their Biggest Fan

After I earned my masters degree in Recreation Therapy I worked at a psychiatric hospital. Ironically, many of the places I’ve worked since then have a lot of similarities to that environment!

One interesting program at the psych hospital was to develop and deliver a self-esteem camp for children in the community who just needed a little encouragement. We screened for healthy, well-adjusted children. If they had psychiatric issues we placed them in more appropriate programs. For instance, we were also running camps for hyperactive children and for kids who had been arrested.

All in all, the two-week day-camp was very fun. Working with children who were shy, had been bullied or who just needed a bit more self-confidence was inspiring to me. Some of the most exhilarating activities were on the Ropes course. It contained various challenges to complete, like climbing 20 feet in the air to a platform and sliding to the other end on a wire zip line, climbing over a 10-foot-high wall and even walking a horizontal log suspended high above the ground.

We cheered the young children to perform brave acts and then we sat in a circle and talked about their experiences. Some discussed their fear and then the feeling of success when they achieved what they thought they could not do. Recently, as I was looking for something in my closet, I found a box of encouragement cards for parents to put in children’s lunch boxes.

Today’s gift was to give this box of cards to my friend whose daughter is struggling with taking care of her three young children. It is a particularly tough time for her daughter because of the difficulties of being pregnant. I thought these cards would help her give the children a boost. It will remind her kids that their mother believes in them and is their biggest fan.

In Giving,

Robin