The Manny Diaries pt. 5: The Résumé

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been accepted to Brigham Young University Idaho campus.  I'm not sure when I will be going out yet, though.  They haven't given me that information.  But within the next year, I will be a student in Idaho.

Which means I'll be in the market for a new job.

So, without further ado, I give you my informal job résumé.  

Goal

To attain a job as a part time manny.  I am looking for a before and after school job, as I will also be in school.

Education

I am working on my Bachelor's degree in Psychology.  My aim is to be a middle school guidance counselor.

Hobbies

I absolutely love photography.  I enjoy reading and writing.  I play baseball, volleyball, and tennis, all just for fun, not competitive. 

Experience

I have been a child care provider for about twelve years.  I taught children's Sunday School for eight years.  I was a Cub Scout leader for about six years.  I interned with a 3rd grade class my Senior year in high school.  I volunteered at a week long Cub Scout day camp every summer for the past ten years.  I was a respite care provider for children with special needs for about six months.  I have experience with autism and Down's syndrome.  I also volunteer with Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Recent Experience

I have worked as a part time manny for a divorced couple for a little over a year, working in both homes.  I worked with their three boys, who I will call M, J, and A.  I assisted the boys with their homework, took them on field trips over the summer, played games, and was (and still am) a good friend.  I aided the mother in disciplining the boys by using visuals and rewarding good behavior.  Below are the tools I made for the boys  that their mother and I have had a lot of success with.

Beast Boy

Beast Boy was created for the youngest child, A, who was 5-years old when I made it.  Beast Boy is, essentially, a whipping boy.  If A doesn't do what he is told, he gets a warning.  One warning.  If he doesn't do what he is told again, Beast Boy loses his ears.  If A says something disrespectful, he gets a warning.  Second offense, Beast Boy loses his mouth.  And so on.  If Beast Boy loses two or more sets of body parts, A loses a privilege.  If Beast Boy has all his parts by bedtime, A gets a marble.  Once he collects ten marbles, he will be rewarded.

Beast Boy has worked amazingly well with A.  Beast Boy rarely loses any parts anymore.

Circle Board

The middle child, J, has something similar to Beast Boy.  It's the same concept, just in a more mature design.  If J lies, he gets one warning.  If he lies again, he loses the Lying Circle.  Just like with Beast Boy, if two or more Circles are taken off, J loses a privilege.  If all the Circles are still on the board by bedtime, J receives a marble.  When J has received ten marbles, he will be rewarded.

What the What?? Jar

The oldest child, M, is pretty independent.  But some times words escape his mouth that would make his grandmother blush.  So we have the What the What?? Jar.  Every time a cuss word escapes M's mouth, a token is placed in his jar.  If he gets five tokens, he loses his video games for the day.  If he gets ten tokens, he loses his phone for the day.  Honestly, I think M has only ever had up to three tokens in the jar.  The jar doesn't get used much anymore, fortunately.

Chuggington Sign

Chuggington is A's go-to show during lunch time.  He absolutely loves trains.  So when he told me that he wanted a sign for his door to keep the monsters out, I thought that Brewster, Wilson, and Koko would be the perfect guardians.  The sign has A's name on it so the monsters know whose room it is.  It is A's room.  Not the monsters'.  Before bed, if A has any worries, he tells those worries to the Chuggers.  While A is sleeping, the Chuggers do all the worrying for him.  This is my latest project, so I'm not yet sure how well it works.

The Trust Bag

The younger boys were wary of the Trust Bag for awhile.  They eventually got over it.  The Trust Bag stays in the kitchen and is home to the iPads.  In the past, the boys' mother used to hide the iPads so the boys wouldn't use them when they weren't allowed.  This resulted in the boys hunting through the house, going through every cupboard, drawer, and closet, looking for the iPads.  The point of the Trust Bag is...well...trust.  By keeping the iPads within the boys' reach, mother is trusting the boys not to use them without permission.  The boys are trusting their mother not to hide them.  The boys are not allowed to take the iPads out of the Trust Bag without permission.  If they do, they lose the iPad for the day.  We have only had this problem twice, and it was towards the beginning of the Trust Bag's existence.


Moving on with the résumé.

Awards/Certifications
I am CPR and First Aid certified.  I am also Food Safety certified.  My Senior year in high school, I was awarded the Good Citizenship award.  Working with the boys, I have been gifted a drawing, a loom band bracelet, and a sour candy spray, some of the best awards I have ever won.

In Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to review my unorthodox résumé.  The only other thing you need to know about me is that I only want the best for the kids I work with.  I strive to live my life in such a way that I can be a positive male role model to the children around me.  Safety is important.  Education is important.  But so is having fun and enjoying life.  Making memories starts at a young age, but they can last a lifetime. I just want to help make happy memories.

Stand Up to Bullying

 
This past weekend, I took my Little to see the movie Wonder.  It's based off of a novel about a boy, Auggie, who was born with a disfigured face.  After being home schooled for five years, Auggie's parents decide it's time to send him to public school.  And so the movie follows Auggie in his first year of middle school.  Throughout the the movie, Auggie gets teased and called names.  Eventually, though, the other kids learn to like Auggie and become his friend.
This movie really got me thinking about how we can better teach our children to be kind to others and stand up to bullying.  Here are some of my ideas:
1.)  Teach Tolerance
2.)  Be an Example
3.)  Love Everyone
and
4.)  Stand Up

1.)  Teach Tolerance
Bullies tend to pick on those that are different.  In Wonder, Auggie was bullied because of his disfigured face.  In grade school, I was teased because I was so quiet.  And hairy.  I was different.
Children need to understand that everyone is different in their own way.  I was fortunate to grow up in a military community.  I was surrounded by people of all colors and cultures who had lived in many different countries.  I learned tolerance simply by living in a diverse community.  Not everyone is that fortunate.
So how does one teach tolerance?  Start in the home.  Read books or watch movies that deal with people of different cultures.  In the community, you can visit museums that exhibit different cultures.  Visit churches other than your own.  Get to know your neighbors.  Visit nursing homes.  Teach your kids about disabilities.  There is so much you can do just in your neighborhood.

2.)  Be an Example
Believe it or not, your kids watch everything you do.  They learn their behaviors from you.  What are showing them?  How do you treat them?  How do you treat your spouse or ex-spouse?  When you are around your kids, do you think to yourself, "Should I act this way?".
Some key areas to focus on are when you are frustrated or angry.  How do you react to anger?  Some people yell, punch things, curse, you name it.  The six-year old and I had a brief, simple conversation last week after he got angry.  His older brother beat him in Wii Lacrosse, so he flipped him off.  We had a nice chat about how it is okay to be angry, but it's never okay to be mean.  I repeated that a couple times this week.  This applies to parents as well.  It's okay to be angry.  But think about how you display your anger.
Another area to focus on is cursing.  It might not seem like a big deal, but it is.  Using bad language can be damaging.  I have had to work with all three boys on using kind words and substitutions such as heck, shoot, crap, and fridge.  (Yes, you read that right.  The boys say fridge.  "What the fridge?")  By filtering what your child says, your child is learning to think before they speak.  This can eventually lead to thinking before calling someone a bad name.  Thinking before offending someone.  So the more you watch your language, the kinder your kids will be.

3.)  Love Everyone
This one can be difficult.  You expect me to love the kid who called me a werewolf in third grade?  Or the kid who used my younger brother as a punching bag?
Yes.
Love comes easily to some.  They are kind to everyone, get along great with anyone.  But it seems that those types of people are becoming more and more hard to find.  Instead, you find people who throw each other under the bus, hate for no reason, are cruel for their own pleasure.  Don't be like that.
Oftentimes, love begins at forgiveness.  That child that called me a werewolf?  I forgave him.  I eventually learned to laugh along with him, even howl.  That kid who beat up my brother?  I taught him and my brother to be friends.  You have to look past people's actions and words to see who they really are.  This is difficult to teach.  So we go back to teaching by example.  Let your children see you be forgiving, be the bigger person.  They will follow in your footsteps.
The most important thing to do is love your children.  When they feel your love, the warmth that your love brings, they won't be able to help themselves.  They will want to share that warmth with others.

4.)  Stand Up
As important as it is to teach your kids not to be bullies, it is equally important to teach them to stand up to bullies.  Now I don't mean picking fights and defending themselves.  I'm talking about being a tattle tale.
No child wants to be a tattle tale.  That's how you lose friends.  But if someone is picking on you or anyone else, the right thing to do is tell an adult.  Standing up to a bully goes along with loving everyone.  Does your child take pleasure in seeing other kids being picked on?  Or do they want the bullying to stop?  By reporting a bully, your child is showing love to the victim.  Don't let your child be afraid to speak to an adult.  Make sure they know that, even though it might not be the most popular thing to do, being a tattle tale can be the right thing to do.

Wonder had a happy ending.  A lot of bullying stories don't.  Teach your kids to do the right thing.  Teach them to stand up to bullying.