June 10, 2004 - 2:47 p.m.

In One Arm And Out The Other

I survived my health screening yesterday for volunteering at the hospital. That's one more step towards actually working with a child life specialist and getting a feel for what the job is like, no to mention strengthening my application for Hopkins! Yay! I got a TB test (which involves getting a subcutaneous injection of some substance to which one's body reacts if one is a carrier of TB) in one arm and had blood drawn from the other. My veins are so big and visible (under my pasty white Irish/Polish skin) that the NP didn't even use a tourniquet on my arm! It also turns out that I am overdue for a tetanus booster, but I don't have to get that one to volunteer. It is something I should get taken care of, though. Ick.

Navigating the hospital felt like trying to find my way around Hogwarts! Honestly, the place is such a maze, that I kept expecting corridors and stairways to have moved or disappeared when I retraced my steps! There are three large, interconnected buildings in the hospital complex (and that's just one of the two main campuses), and I got to visit each one at some point in my journey. I had to find my way to Employee Health, Outpatient Registration, back to Employee Health, and then to the Lab for the blood work. Oy! Luckily everyone was really good at giving directions and the signage was halfway decent. Nonetheless, after all that, I had neither the time nor the inclination to find my way to Volunteer Services to drop off my letters of recommendation.

I'll do that tomorrow when I go in to meet with the Director of Child Life. I have to essentially be interviewed by him to ensure that I meet their requirements, which is as it should be. I am a little nervous, even though I don't think I have anything to worry about. It will be nice to finally meet the man after playing phone tag with him for more than a week! I'll have to restrain myself from picking his brain about his job, though. That can wait until it's confirmed that I have a volunteer spot.

B continues to be moody and occasionallt quite troublesome this week. His tendency to lie is really getting out of hand. I can deal with him telling his friends he has a pet lizard, even when he gets mad at me for telling the friends that said lizard is just pretend. I won't tolerate lying about whether he's washed his hands or picked up his toys or things like that. Lately, though, it's gotten even worse. Today he left his tae kwon do class to go to the bathroom; when he returned he claimed he had thrown up. I was skeptical, since the same scenario unfolded last Friday when we went to his sister's play, and he just wanted an excuse to go home and have his grandmother's attention all to himself. That time I was waiting just outside the bathroom and heard no telltale sounds to confirm his story, so I was pretty certain he was lying. That made me very skeptical about today's claim.

After conferring with his instructor, we had him return to class. She agreed to keep a close eye on him for any signs of real illness, which, to my combined relief (I was right!) and dismay (The little turd!) were utterly absent. After the class, I talked to him about it, and he admitted that he was just trying to get out of class. He's not too keen on the short periods of waiting involved and mostly wants to get to the board breaking at the end. I explained that he won't get his next stripe or his next belt if he leaves class early as well as that breaking boards is something you only get to do if you stay and work hard for the entire class. Maybe it's time to forget the whole thing, if he isn't totally into it, but he certainly enjoys himself when he's in there - he clearly had fun even after I sent him back in today (though he did cast me a few choice glares through the observation window).

I feel like he's turning into a dishonest and manipulative little person, and I am not sure how to handle it. Today's battle was won, but the larger war is still to be fought. Where does one draw the line between the harmless exaggeration and trickery that all kids do and serious lying? And once the line is drawn, what is the best way to stop the behavior? Catching him in the lie obviously isn't always an option, but when we do we try to enforce loss of privileges like TV. Still the lying is getting worse not better. Maybe we need to be more consistent and strict about it. Or maybe he'll just grow out of it.

today's project: attempting to instill honesty as a value

Did you know?Jefferson once had a moose carcass shipped to a French Count to prove that not all New World animals are

consecutive workout days: one - perhaps tomorrow I will tell you all about the grocery interval workout I invented today.

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