Last Winter Concert Of The Season

http://www.parentresource.org/
This another great turnout to the PRC Winter Concert Series. It took place on Saturday. This event had a few less parents and children but the entertainment was awesome and they really got the kids involved and excited. A free plug here, the band was "Miss Holli and Tommy" and they seem very musically talented and do many children events. This is the second event that I have participated in as a volunteer. I had such a good time at the last one my wife came along to lend a hand. One thing that kind of bothered me was that there are never any men volunteering for any event. I get alot of praise from the board members and I don't think that I'm doing anything greater than anyone else but I feel they treat me differently because of my gender. It doesn't bother me, I just wish that more men would help out for these events and not leave it up to the women. I got there an hour early to help set up for the event and that meant that things like tables, chairs and cases of water and snacks need to be carried through the hall way down the stairs into the gym. Until I started volunteering these women had to do all of this heavy lifting and where I was raised a women shouldn't have to do this. I also think it sets a good example to the children, seeing a man help out will help the children not differentiate what is a mans job and what is a women's. I hope in the future that more men will begin to participate in these events.

1st Outreach Program Class

This posting is a little late, but I had my first interaction with the children from the outreach program class on this past Wednesday. The class ages were from 1 to 5 years of age. The name of the class is Stepping Stones or "Esculeta" which means school in Spanish. It was a real fun week to meet the children and there families because it was their Easter party. I plan to take Rosetta Stone over the summer and after this day I realized that it's a necessity. There were about 60 kids there and they were all Spanish speaking. One of the fun little projects that myself and another volunteer did with the children was to make them an Easter basket. Just completing this minute task seemed to be a struggle. The children seemed to take direction very well and the parents not so well. It goes to show that children's growing brains suck up everything like a sponge. Whether it's physically repeating something that is demonstrated to them or hearing something repeatedly said to them their brains retain so much and so quickly. I love helping out with this population because my son is half Spanish and my wife speaks to him in Spanish so the more I spend with these Spanish children I can learn more words to talk to my son. So I guess in the long run these kids help me just as much as I help them.

Just another day of Service Learning

I will be brutally honest, I like volunteering but I don't like the timing. I hate that I'm so busy with all my school work, paid work and family. I talked to my supervisor and told her when my hours are over I would love to help out during the summer when I'm not so busy. But I won't be able to continue while school is in session. I don't know if this makes me a bad person but every time I'm done with a day of service I add up how much money I missed out on not working or how much time I could have spent studying. I think it's just because I'm so pressed for time.

PRC Winter Concert

Saturday was a concert for the kids at the Parent Resource Center. The event was fun and had a great turnout. I helped with refreshments and played with the kids while a DJ had a dance party going. They charged $5 per person for the entry fee for people 1 and older. This is a little steep in my opinion. I know that the money goes to fund these events and the classes they have, but I know my family of 3 and soon to be 4 wouldn't spend $15-$20 on an event like this for a couple hours. I do alot of things with my family when I can. I spend time with them when I should be doing something else. One thing I've noticed since moving to Long Island from St. Louis is that fathers don't spend as much time with their children. I know that this area is competitive and you have to keep up with the Jones's, so work is very time consuming. It was a great feeling to see so many dads at this event. I don't think I've been to anything on Long Island that had so many dads at one event. I actually talked to a couple of guys that want to get together for a beer, the wives always go out and get a night off so we figured we should too.