5 pin bowling

It's like a dwarf version of 10 pin bowling, not quite as much fun and it wasn't electronic scoring so it was hard to add up the scores when pissed. Each pin has a value 5 for the head pin, 3 for the ones either side and 2 for the end ones, you get 3 goes a turn for 10 frames but nothing extra for the last frame if you get a strike.

Communication, Mentoring & Child Safety

This week I attending a training session in preparation for my volunteer work as a Big Sister and learned a lot about Communication, Mentoring & Child Safety... here are some things I learned

M - Make it special
E - Encourage and build self esteem
N - Never say never - model positive behaviour / attitudes
T - Teachable moments - look for them and act accordingly
O - Open new doors - new ideas, skills, dreams
R - Reliable - be there and do what you say you will do
I - Instill a sense of wonder, motivate and stimulate thought
N - Notice their individuality and make comments
G - Go for it and have fun!

Active Listening
F.E.L.O.R.
F - Face the person
E - Eye contact
L - Listen
O - Open posture
R - Respond

"I" Messages
Neutral description of your behaviour - "When you..."
Feelings of Emotions - "I feel..."
Effect or Reason - "Because..."
What you would lke from them instead - "So I need..."

We did a role play, this is an example

Q: WHAT IF you arranged to meet your adolescent-aged Little Sister at the beach at 5pm but it is now 5.30pm and she is half an hour late?

A: When you are late, I feel worried and let down as I don't feel the friendship is important to you. So I need you to call if you are going to be late and make an effort to be on time.

We also covered the following topics
Building Self Esteem
Effective Mentoring
Setting Boundaries
Saviour Syndrome
Good Role Modelling
Suspcisions of child abuse and how to report it
Child Safety

Christmasyfying the flat

The tree was a bit of a mission as it was too big and we only used half and had to use some creativity to get it to stand up straight and raise it up a bit but we assembled it and it worked in end

I also personalised some stockings
Put a bow on the front door
Put some ornaments around the flat

Assembling the tree...


Discovering it was too big, not just the height but the gerth, it would take up the whole flat!


Ahhh our Christmas tree complete with baubles and lights