A small measure of peace
I got a small compliment today that helped make me feel like my hard work this semester hasn't been for naught. It's easy to feel as if you're doing everything wrong when you get so much critcism (granted, it's not all bad, but still) and you feel so watched all the time.
We were asking one of my clients' mothers if she wanted to come back next semester or if she was done coming to see us, and she said that she wanted to come back. She then proceeded to ask if they could work with me again. I was heartbroken to tell her no, since I love working with her child so much and would love to keep her, but it made me proud to realize that they actually enjoyed working with me and found my methods good enough to keep me around.
That may not sound like much, but parents are protective of their children, especially the ones who've had to fight hard to keep them afloat and who have had to go through so much with them, the ones who are trying to give them a normal life after so much hardship, and she is the type of mother who would have no qualms about saying, "this isn't working, you're not what's best for my child."
Yay!
On another note, I bonded with one of my professors the other day over anime. Who knew talking about anime in a project I had to put together would get her to admit that she, too, is a geek? Now I'm contentedly listening to the Princess Mononoke soundtrack that she lent me.
See? You're never too old to enjoy this stuff!