more than I bargained for
I spent two full days volunteering at a day care, and those kids exhausted me. They are amazing and I love them to death, but they wore me out! Never in my life have I tied so many shoelaces, zipped up so many coats, or reminded so many kids to wash their hands. It was wonderful though. One girl declared me to be her friend. One little boy crawled up in my lap every chance he got. I got so many hugs too. It was wonderful. Can't wait to go back next week.
During those two days, I stayed at my aunts' house. This also proved interesting. You see, it turns out that I get along much better with one of my aunts than with the other. I didn't know that, but it's definitely true, at least at the moment. At any rate, it all worked out. I got to get out of my parents' house for a while and I got to talk to somebody with a little sympathy for how things have sucked lately, which I definitely needed. Volunteering at the day care helped on top of that because it distracted me. So even though I've been feeling lousy lately, I guess it was sort of one of those times when what seems like a bad thing turns out to be a really good thing.
I was reminded of a couple of things.
1. High school is crap for most people, and it's okay to want to go away to school just to be able to start over.
2. Sometimes there really isn't a whole lot you can do to fix things right away, and you just have to do the best you can while you wait.
3. Just because your family is a bit crazy and/or dysfunctional, it doesn't mean you have to be, too.
4. Finally, some people really do care and want me to be happy. That's the one I tend to forget the most.
So as you can see, it was a rather eventful couple of days.