Session 8

Today I received a call from S2’s dad informing me that she would no longer like to participate in Manadoob. I spoke with him about options and asked if he knew why she would like to step away from the group. It sounded like maybe there was some confusion so I followed up with her before Manadoob today. S2 and I spoke about her reasons, which it seems stemmed from feeling overwhelmed at school and an upcoming change in her schedule. Her dad had mentioned she was nervous to tell me because she didn't want to hurt my feelings, so I brought this up in our discussion. I told her that it would not hurt my feelings and that the most important thing to me is for her to be happy and healthy at the Club. I asked that she think about her decision and reminded her of the attendance contract she had signed at the start of Manadoob this year.

When it was Manadoob time and members were lining up L2 also asked me if he could stay behind, which it was easier for me to tell him no because I understood his motives (that he wanted to stay back to play with a friend who had attended the Club that day). As I told him no I decided to also call S2 to come to class with us. I spoke with her and let her know I felt it unfair to let her step out as we had formed a close group and her decision would not only affect her but also the group as a whole. She accepted my statement and attended our group. I was also hoping that her feeling of being overwhelmed would pass and she should be encouraged to take time to make these types of decisions. I hope to also have a conversation with her about making it serve her best, maybe looking at it a different way.  Instead of another thing on her long list of responsibilities, maybe an opportunity to let loose and unwind.

We revisited the Iduna stone and the three uncomfortable things we had written and put in the pouch with it. I asked members to share one of the things they had written if they felt comfortable doing so. H3 shared that putting his negative thoughts away for awhile help him, he didn’t hide his excitement about feeling that the Iduna stone worked for him. M agreed that writing about things that bother her makes her feel better. T said that she wrote down her worries of paying bills like on the house, taxes, and having enough money for food. Her honesty was absolutely amazing and the way she said it shocked me. She was so matter of fact, like worrying about taxes and house payments are typical thoughts of a nine year old. We spoke a little bit more about this and I thanked her for sharing something so personal. S2 shared that she had written about her schedule change and grades being uncomfortable for her, she worries and wants to do well. The amount of pressure she puts on herself is obvious and I hope that throughout this year she will learn to take time for herself and learn to be kind to herself as well.

As we progressed to chapter 10, I was reminded of the extreme positivity of our group. Everyone moved quite quickly through the changing negatives into positives exercise and each member shared one that they felt applied to them personally. S2 spoke of sharing a room with her sister as did several of the other girls including M We also shared about chapter 11’s question regarding anticipation and every one was excited to put a sadiki sticker in its place for this section.

Taking into consideration the way our group started with two members wanting to skip our group I thought that it was time to shake things up a bit and give them some space at the same time. I offered them a choice, we voted, whether to continue on starting to read chapter 12 or explore our kits a bit. The response didn't surprise me at all; all but L1 wanted to explore the moobia stones and their meanings more so that’s exactly what we did for the last 5 minutes of class. I felt the energy in the room change as they moved about and hope that our wavering members will have a renewed interest for next session.