The worst day ever.

So not to sound overly dramatic, but I’m pretty sure Saturday was one of the worst days I’ve had in a while (excluding lunch of course). I woke up with horrible stomach pains around 4 am and proceeded to be sick for the next 4 hours. After a short nap and a shower I went up to the comedor for lunch, so yes my day got a little better, but from then on it was completely downhill.

Saturday was a day FULL of activities, meaning that it should have been quite pleasant and easy…if only the girls would have done the TWO things that they were responsible for all day: their individual chores and showering…which together should have only taken roughly 30 minutes of the day.

We returned from the activity at 1 pm, giving the girls 3 hours before our next activity. Many of them got right to work and in no time were hanging out without responsibilities, yet a few of the girls basically refused to do ANYTHING…either that, or just completely half-assed their chores, claiming that they did them, and screaming at us to “get off their backs” with MAJOR attitude.

One of the girls, who Carrie and I continuously nagged to do SOMETHING completely ignored us and went over to the other tia, who, ignoring the fact that she hadn’t done a SINGLE thing she was asked to do, then proceeded to cut her hair for the next TWO HOURS – not only allowing the girl to get away with NOT doing her chore, but also undermining mine and Carrie’s work to get the girls to be responsible for themselves. Strike one team tia.

At 4 pm, when it was time for another Posada, we gathered up the 7 girls who had been excellent all day and let them go to the posada. The other 4 were then locked in the section to take showers and finish their incomplete chores. We began walking to the posada when all of a sudden we heard banging from the door and saw one of the girls climbing out the window (one of our windows is missing so there is literally just a piece of paper over the flap…helpful. We know.) Carrie returned to take care of the “window situation” while the rest of us continued on. Turns out they had been trying to escape to come to the posada, and when any of the four of them refused to tell WHO had been climbing out the window, they were also assigned to clean the comedor after dinner. Fun times.

The rest of us went to the posada, wandered around finding an inn for Maria and Jose, and eventually ended up at the comedor where those in charge of the posada read Bible passages about Maria and Jose’s journey to find an inn. During the Bible reading I happened to turn around…and lock eyes with one of the four girls who was SUPPOSED to be locked in the section…and yet who had escaped through the window during the hour we’d been gone…to come and stand directly behind me. As soon as she saw me she bolted through the crowd and stood next to the other tia…who proceeded to hug her and tell her how nice it was to see her at the posada, without once reprimanding the fact that she had escaped from the section. Strike two team tia.

Once the posada was over the girl immediately came over to me and began yelling in my face…and so I began yelling in her face…in front of everyone in the comedor. Incredibly mature…I’m aware…but in all seriousness I don’t know if I have ever been angrier. We proceeded to yell at each other for a good five minutes before the tia in charge came over and took a hold of the situation. It was a good thing because I was beyond my wits end.

When the tia in charge came back I apologized for my behavior (let’s be honest, I made myself look like a huge idiot) and explained the situation. Even after explaining what had actually happen, the tia basically told me there was nothing I could do about it and that the girl was not really going to receive any punishment. Nothing. In fact, she was allowed to join the rest of the girls in line to get food from the posada.

The thing that frustrated me most is that, as tias, volunteers, WHOMEVER you are at NPH – your responsibility is to help these children become the best people they can be – to teach them right from wrong, to teach them to be responsible for themselves, how to take care of themselves, how to be positive, contributing members of society…and yes that comes with a price. And YES it is hard, EXTREMELY HARD to discipline kids…but it is what they need. Especially the kids here at NPH whom, for many, this is their first, real, stable home. They need love and affection, and positive attention, but yes, sometimes they need discipline. And the more they are allowed to get away with whatever they want, the more they are going to push the boundaries and do whatever the hell they want. Strike three team tia.

So you don’t want to punish this one girl for her actions? Well guess what? She’s going to continue to do bigger and badder things, which the other kids will see and copy, until finally somebody snaps. We are here to help these kids, and that means being loving and patient and kind, but sometimes it means being the heavy, too.