You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here

Closing time - time for you to go out, go out into the world.
Closing time - turn the lights up over every boy and every girl.
Closing time - one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer.
Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

.·:*¨¨*:·. .·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·.

Today was a really rough session w/ K1. At least I don't feel guilty with how my sessions went (I just feel like a failure) b/c I didn't give up on K1 and I actually convinced her to stay (against my own wishes). She was crying before I even saw her (sure sign that it'll be a rough session), so when Mom asked if she wanted to go home, I secretly hoped that she would say yes. Nope, she didn't want to go home, so I tricked her into coming in with me to "make a bracelet." Only, she had to earn each bead.

At the end of the session, she started bawling again, saying she didn't want to leave, see Mom, nor go home. Sweetheart, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Out in the common area, another kiddo's Dad commented about how I must be doing something great to make her not want to go home.

Um, not quite. I pull out all the stops for this kiddo, but nothing seems to work. The moment she came in, she hid under the table and said she didn't want to do anything, so I had to be a professional brat, use reverse psychology, and say, "alright, well you don't have to make a bracelet, but me and [clinical assistant] are going to make a pretty bracelet." That definitely got her working with me. By the end of the session, she had made 1/2 a bracelet that also spelled REM. Actually, it was first MRE but my clinical assistant dropped the bracelet and ended up spelling REM.

A loacknowledgingdos are quickly acknowleding how K1 doesn't want to go home. Today, my partner in crime said to her kiddo, "Oh, we have to hurry so we will have time to say hi to our friend [K1]." He said, "she doesn't like to go home. Why?" She said, "I don't know. I guess she just has so much fun with [me] that she wants to stay and play."

That's prolly the biggest load of BS that my wonderful Partner-in-Crime has convinced her kiddo of. Hopefully, I don't get him next quarter because then he'll figure out that I'm really not all that fun.

All I can say is, I'm glad I found a new reinforcer for her. So glad I never threw away those candy-raver beads...