Parents always say one day you're gonna realize life isn't fair. I think this moment happens at different times for different people, but it's always at a point of hurt where the carpet was pulled up from underneath your feet and you fell hard. This whole week has been that for me. It's Friday and I woke up this morning no better than I was Tuesday night. That is when I got the news I would be losing my only client at work. I work with children with special needs more often than not at their homes. This was my second client, but I never knew in the process that I would be getting a second family. His name is Aaron. He has a congenital condition that manifests itself in his brain because it's like he had a stroke, but he's only 6. It's a rare condition that affects one side of his body and his speech. I was assigned to help him learn to dress himself, bathe himself, speak more, and stay focused on tasks, but from the moment I entered that chaotic house I knew it would be much more of a challenge.
The family has four boys including Aaron. They're all A names: Andrew, Alex, Aaron, and Anson. They all have these huge personalities that sometimes clash with eachother, but it makes for interesting nights. Andrew is very smart, loud, and a prankster. One time Alex was trying to make popcorn in the microwave and he would start the microwave and walk out of the room and Andrew would turn off the microwave in the process and Alex came back to find the microwave turned off and his popcorn unpopped. This went on for an hour and Alex never caught on and I got a good laugh everytime he walked back in shocked thinking the microwave was broken. Alex is the oblivious one, you could say something a hundred times and if he's on the Wii, his laptop, his DS, or watching tv, chances are he never heard you. We were making movies one night and Alex picked up a bowl from the dishwasher he was emptying and started singing and dancing with it on his head and the younger boys cracked up forever watching him. Aaron is the boy I work with. He's very persistent, he's always striving for his independence, but he's a lover inside. If he ever started crying for any reason, he would always fall into my arms for a hug. We would talk about his day and trains. I remember the day we wrote his name together hand over hand and it looked SO good and he was so proud of himself. Then there's Anson, the spitfire of the group. He's only 3, but if you only heard the way he spoke about things, about life, you might mistake him for 20 or so. He always told me the best stories while we watched his favorite shows on Sprout. He never ceased to make me laugh and the first time I did was when he told me about this story about how he needs to buy a new car battery for Mommy's van. I think it's pretty obvious how much I care them, so hearing the news that they would be switching companies killed me. I drove home Tuesday night in tears on the phone to Alex.
I don't know what I'm going to do. Last night was my final night as Aaron's Hab and I left the house absolutely numb. I still am. It hasn't quite hit me that on Tuesday of next week I will be home, not there. I was debating whether or not I should take more clients because my schedule is so open now. I thought that was what I wanted, what was best for me, but I didn't have the guts to call these other families. I'm just not ready. Dad wants me to go to real estate school to make real money. I want to try, but I just don't know what I'll do about money because I won't have another job besides being the office receptionist until the end of May. I can't say my parents didn't warn me one day that I would realize that life isn't sunshine and rainbows and that I won't feel like I'm being pulled in a ton of different directions, so I have nothing to complain about. I just didn't know it would be this hard.
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