Last day of on-campus clinic

I just e-mailed my last two session evaluations. Yeah!
This has been an extremely interesting, fun, and agonizing quarter of clinic. Although it is not completely over yet (FCS due Monday), sessions are officially over. It couldn't've gone any better. :)

First off, I truly feel like it was a blessing from above how my classmate just happened to "be there at the right place at the right time." She was gracious enough interpret for my final meeting with Miracle's Mom. Even though I had met with Miracle's Mom a few times this quarter, she continues to amaze me with how wise she is and how invested she is in her daughter. I say this every quarter, but I always mean it -- it touches my heart to see how involved all of my clients' parents are in their child. Mom wrote me a wonderful card and enclosed a small amber pendant. Miracle cut out a heart and wrote, "I love my teacher" in it. The part that surprised me is when she wrote on the board, "-d" and "-ing." It was somewhat random, but significant since we had been working on those verb forms for half of the quarter. As a parting gift, I gave Miracle a 4-pack of sparkly Play-Doh (to get her to express herself more and in the present progressive form) and an advent calendar from Trader Joe's. :)

Random: I LOVE using parentheses when I write. I think it is b/c I like to make sassy comments in a passive-aggressive way. I.e., when I'm at school, I'm the passive-aggressive one adding in my two-cents under my breath, with my head hunched over as if I am bisy taking notes, and/or hiding behind another classmate so that the prof doesn't know who made the crazy comment. In writing, parentheses are like those verbal comments. However, ever since my last ISR Revision Massacre meeting with 2T, I am almost too traumatized to compulsively use parentheses. She said in a not so pleasant tone/way that certain things I put in ( ) should not be in ( ) b/c they are a core part of the objective. I put them in ( ) as clarification examples. I see her point, but I am still a tiny bit traumatized.

The Riddler's last session also went well. He was quite animated today and still as goofy as ever. When there was 15 minutes left, I presented him his parting gifts. I opened the book up and the first page had his Speech Rules. His expression was priceless. Those rules will prolly haunt him forever. Ha! Past the T.O.C. were the Queen lyrics. When we got to "We are the Champions," he just had to sing the chorus...so I sang with him. :) I showed him the rest of the book (biographies of famous musical artists) and he seemed genuinely thrilled. I also gave him two gel pens, and he snagged a third pen from me (he was using it today and asked, "can I keep this?" I figure, what the hey, why not.). Lastly, I gave him an advent calendar. He asked where it was from him so when I told him, he dutifully reported that Trader Joe's has really good frozen bananas in the Cold Section. I dutifully responded that I will have to try them next time I go. Before he left, we had the following conversation:

C: Do you want to come back next quarter?
R: Yeah.
C: Why is that?
R: I duno. It's fun.
C: Really?
R: I'm going to miss.
C: Miss what?
[Silence]
R: Well, [R], I'm going to miss you!

I know, I know, I am pretty presumtuous to think that he is going to miss me but was just too embarrassed to admit it. =P I am going to miss both of my kiddos.

This quarter, I realized how important it is to keep encouraging these kiddos. I can imagine how much slack they catch from other people in their lives. A little verbal praise and encouragement can go a long way. In addition to both families reporting that both kiddos have improved in their language, they also reported that they saw a change in the child's confidence, too. Talk about the best 2fer "deal"! :) I am so proud of my kiddos.

I left the clinic at 5:55 P.M. Totally a record! BF and I went to Ikea to pick up a shelf for his early Christmas gift that arrived today, along with Lil Fawker's new huge net. We also stopped by Home Depot to pick up a Christmas tree and wreath. When I got home, I called my bro to tell him that I won't borrow Dad's car from him tonight for the tree. He said, "Good thing I didn't surprise you with a Christmas tree then!" Just the thought of him thinking about surprising BF & I with a Christmas tree in Dad's trunk when I was supposed to borrow the car made me overwhelmingly warm and fuzzy.

24 more days until Christmas, 16 days until Lil F's b-day, and 7 more days until this quarter is officially over!