New Kid on the Block
For those of you don't already know, I took a full-time night position at the autistic society. The great thing about group-home work is that you always have a job when you need one. There is a distinct lack of men in the field, so the pay is usually pretty good and the schedule is really fexible for relief workers. The downside is that you're asked to work with the more violent clients.
The kids I work with are usually pretty easy to handle until they hit puberty. Then they bulk up fast from all the fighting. There are a couple on the east wing that sometimes need four or five workers to hold them down. I don't usually have to deal with that since I work nights, but I also don't have much backup (2 people per wing). When things go south, they can go south fast.
I just found out today that we're getting a new kid at MH. He's 13 (the oldest on my wing is 11) and apparently he's pretty violent. Ugh. I love my kids to death, but I admit that some love is lost on the ones that punch me in the head.
The first week will be the worst. He'll be up most of the night because of the new surroundings and super cranky from the lack of sleep. I guess he's pretty big, so it should be interesting. I'll be working with him the most (my co-worker is almost 70) so I hope he punches like a girl. Actually, we had a girl that could put you through a wall (ask mlle_bitch about that one), so scratch that. I hope he doesn't turn out to be a night owl.