Cherish the Victories

    This one'll be a bit brief, but I would like to share a small victory with everyone. One boy at camp, who frequently struggles with anger outbursts and frustration, has recently been showing some change. He typically is the nicest kid you know. But, when pushed the wrong way, his anger hulks out and he becomes intolerable and unable to be calmed down. Well, there have been two different instances where these anger outbursts have happened recently. One time, he flipped out over a kickball game. He threw out some harsh language and ultimately found himself in the van seat on his way home. I talked with his mother, and I'm not sure what happened afterwards. However, about 4 hours later, after camp had finished, a knock on our door was heard. I answered it to find the same boy back. He said, "I need to talk to you." I stepped outside on the porch and was hopeful. He proceeded to apologize. He owned up to his error and was even willing to give me a hug. HUGE! 

    But, today he was struggling with this anger again. He was confused about the rule on foul tips in wiffle-ball. A teammate of his struck out, and he assumed that I had called her out to try and cheat for the other team. I did my best to calm him down and to explain the rules to him, but he simply was an erupting volcano. When I told him to cool off on the porch for an inning, the eruption, quite frankly, erupted. Following him inside the house, the best way to calm the hysteria was to let him cool down on his own. I gave him 10 minutes on the porch. An eternity for someone his age. Especially when he can hear everyone else having fun in the backyard. So the minutes ticked by, and when I came around to talk, his first words were, "I want to apologize." HUGE! His actions and mistakes may have repeated themselves, but so has his understanding and mindset of apologizing. The next step in training him is to learn from his mistakes and help him know that there is a way out. That there is peace rather than rage. That he can be loving amidst the other kids' sometimes abusive behavior towards him.

    Anyways, just wanted to share this victory. There are more to tell as well, but this one just stuck out at me the most. Also, if some of you are wondering, I'm no longer mentioning any of their names in order to protect their identity or in case they happen to read this blog. Any names that do appear are all pseudonyms.