Brothers J--another set -- go squirrel Hunting

Today when I appeared on the Kids floor I sat down on the couch. M-girl was being held by a volunteer. It was about 10 minutes to five and I could sense I was in the perfect position to take over. To hell with dinner! I quickly got to move in and had my chance to cuddle Baby M. Hockey was on, I was in a comfy chair, things were perfect. For the next 45 minutes or so I just hung doing the cuddle thing along with the B-man and K-man (who came up from the main floor)! After a while the crew came up--Janelle with the Brothers J crew2. Oldest brother has been called Jeffrey in previous posts.

The M-girl was nice and happy so the nurse put her in her bed. The boys and I went downstairs so I could catch up in the food department and we discussed the night strategy: squirrel hunting was in the plans.

I had no idea! In the end we went outside, leaving K and B - Men on the Kids Floor and went to catch us a squirrel.

The boys were hi - larious. We found a bucket, some string from jeffrey's bag, some bird seed, and whole lot of patience. The plan was for the unsuspecting squirrel to get the seeds placed under the propped up bucket, and pull the string and catch the squirrel. Simple. So we hung by the bird feeder and waited. Squirrels in the trees staying a minimum of 30m away. Lots of chickadees around, a few song sparrows, and one junko. So me being the bird loving fool that I am start whistling to the birds: MAGIC! The chickadee call "cheese burger" is (i believe) a territorial call. After a few minutes of cheesburgering I had the whole group of local chickadees cheeseburgering back!

We never caught a squirrel so we went inside for bathroom breaks. We collected the B and K Men and went upstairs. Even found a plan to catch a squirrel.

We eventually came across some pinecones and string and decided to to make bird traps (aka bird feeders). string...peanut butter...sunflower seeds. Done. Hung them out on a tree and a birdfeeder. It was dark and the birds were in bed. I bet the squirrels destroy them in the night!

It was a cool night. I like to hunt squirrels.

A Quiet House

This Friday was such a contrast from last Friday.

3 kids in the house, plus a mum and a sister who hung out on their own, plus a dad and a brother who went to a hockey tournament.

That was it. Santos, Joan, Jenelle and I were on hand along with the nurses and PCAs.

It always seems like there is a lot of people on any one shift and it is on nights like these that I sometimes watch what the nurses are doing when they are not in contact with the kids. They are busy! They are always doing something. Writing in reports, in the med room preparing stuff, checking other stuff. The PCAs are are also busy as hell too. This is what they need to get done every shift (I am supposing) whether they have a kid in front of them or not. Unless a kid is in their room sleeping (and being monitored by video!) they are ALWAYS with a family volunteer, PCA, or nurse. As volunteers we are to be there for the kids in the house, but I realise that we are also there for the nurses. The nurses do a hell of a job. I am happy that as a volunteer we can help them do even better!

Our job tonight consisted of serious hanging in the Sunroom. We were perilously close to repeating nap time, but managed to stay awake while G-Dog and C-Girl (I have become ever so taxed on creating new names) watched a variety of shows on TV. I hung a bit with the S-Man while he demolished a video game.

This was S-Man's second stay at the house. I ate supper with his family and had a little chat with his mum and dad. I found myself telling them how awesome this place is because of how NORMAL it is.

Canuck Place takes a uniquely special kid with uniquely special needs who receives uniquely special care and makes every aspect their care and visit normal.

That is what this place is about.