Where there's smoke

I volunteered at the elementary school yesterday.  It was fun and in the course of the day I was in contact with literally every child who was present at school.

I had a great time and I love seeing the kids and hearing updates from the ones that I know, picking on 'my' Scouts, talking to the teachers, etc.

At several points I was sad, though.  I'm what's been called 'sensitive' to cigarette smoke.  My eyes water a LOT, my nose gets really stuffy, my throat gets sore and it affects my voice.

This isn't a huge school by today's standards.  I think the last time I heard there were less than 300 kids enrolled.  I had probably 10-15 kids come through that just REEKED of cigarette smoke.  Like I could smell them before they got to me.  Locked your clothes in an ashtray.  Slept inside a lit cigarette.  Just REEKED.  I'm sure it's because the person(s) who smokes probably smokes in the home and their vehicle and I'm not blaming the kids at all, they have no choice.  I'm not even ranting on the adults (right now..lol).

Do I wish they'd shield the kids from the smoke?  ABSOLUTELY!  For their health and for their social well being and so they will have a better chance of not smoking themselves....I could go on.

Here's the thing, though, I know because we've all heard it so often, that it's really hard to quit smoking.  It's a battle that person has to fight and want to win.  I've never smoked, I'm not going to say I could quit easily.

I'm overweight.  It's my own battle and I'm well aware that my body size isn't setting the best example for my kids, either.  It's a fight I fight over and over and over again, as do many of us.  So.  Not lecturing about it today.

By the end of the day I had no voice left.  I was trying to whisper loud enough for 15-20 kids (the amount we had in each group for the activity) to hear me.  I felt like there was the residue on my skin, on my lips, in my hair.  And I was sad that I reacted that badly to KIDS when they were at my station for only 10-15 minutes per group.  Normally for me to react that badly I'm locked in a meeting or a car with someone who chain smokes and carries it on their body and clothing.

There were just kids.  Elementary kids.  Cute, funny, silly as all get out, kids.  At one point one little boy asked me why my voice sounded funny (he knows me) and I told him my allergies were acting up.

I had an absolute blast with the kids and I think we made the day special for them and I would (and will) do it again in a heartbeat, but man, do I wish life at home was a bit different for those kids.


Yes, I realize that other kids have even bigger problems at home, please don't lecture me over that.  I'm just talking about this one aspect today.  :)

Two words

Hearing Aid!


Geesh.   Mawmaw needs hearing aids.  Horribly.  Took her to have her hearing tested a long time ago because I was sick of having to raise my voice every time I said anything to her.

She flunked the test splendidly, both ears.  I don't know how far off those boxes on the test result papers are, but the closest she came to 'normal' was four boxes away for mid range hearing.  Low and high range were at least six away, both ears.

They explained it all to her, practically yelling across the desk at her, of course, but they were VERY nice.  They explained it's just part of the aging process (she never worked a job with loud noises) and that it was nothing she did.  They told her that it had happened slowly over time and since she was living alone for a few years, there was no one to tell her they were noticing it until we moved her in with us.  (Side note, she used to complain about her next door neighbor in the apartments banging on the wall 'for no reason.'  Want to bet it was because her TV was BLARING???)

They put some sample hearing aids in her ears after they'd calibrated them to her loss.  Then they explained it all over again.  They asked her if she could hear them OK, talking in a normal voice.

Then they asked me to talk to her in a normal voice.  Then they told her they were going to have me talk to them in the voice I have to use to get her to hear me at home.

I did.

She jumped.

I explained that all of us have to practically SHOUT at her to get her attention and then she still mis-understands what we say a lot of the time and that the hearing aids would help her be safer and hear better, but also help us because we can talk normally.  Plus, she hears one or two words and fills in the rest with what she *THINKS* you said, or what she *WANTS* you to have said and some conversations are a mess.  The kids sometimes give up completely.

She wouldn't agree to them.  Told the lady she didn't think her hearing was that bad, that basically she didn't care if we had to yell, she wasn't wearing them.  It was not a money issue, they have a great 0% interest payment plan for one year that made it VERY affordable for her, because she's saving money each month by living here instead of having her rent payment and own utility bills plus she no longer does the random crap shopping she'd go do when she got bored.

Can't make her get them, can't make her wear them.  The elderly can be mighty selfish, let me tell you.  I could tell you stories to make your hair curl.

But, we love her.  So, we continue to yell at her.  lol

This morning she went in the kids' bedroom (I have no idea why) and comes out holding a pull-up.  Youngest wears a pull-up at night.  We've explained over and over to her that if it's not wet, he wears them more than once.  It's clean, he puts it on after his bath, all he does is sleep in it and they are expensive.

She comes to ask me if it's still good as she found it on the dresser top.  I told her it's fine, it's still dry, he'll wear it tonight again, just put it back on the dresser.

Oh, OK.

I just walked into the kitchen and found it in the trash, where she dumped her coffee grounds all over it.

*Sigh*