Smartass. . . And a PAIN in the ass.

It’s unavoidable in my job that every staff will have certain kids they enjoy working with more than others. For lack of a better word, one might call them “favorites,” although if we’re behaving professionally we won’t treat these children any better than the rest.

I rarely have a clear “favorite,” but normally two or three kids I particularly enjoy. This particular little guy I’ll refer to as “Jimmy” for the sake of confidentiality.

Jimmy is friendly, affectionate, charming, and a big smartass. I've gotten to interact with him at night on the occasions he gets up to the bathroom or has to shower due to wetting the bed, and so we've bonded a bit. During the day when he’s with all the other kids, Jimmy can be friendly, affectionate, charming, smartass. . . and a PAIN in the ass. I referred to him in an earlier post, Hard lessons and Jedi Mind Tricks—you should be able to easily figure out which one.

Jimmy had been excited the previous week when I told him I would be working the second shift referred to in that earlier post because I always make a point to give him a little positive attention. So the first time I saw him after that rough night, I made sure to touch base with him. Jimmy had wet the bed a few nights afterward, so after he got changed and cleaned up we had a chat.

I told Jimmy I had been kind of disappointed we hadn’t been able to have much fun that evening, and that I couldn’t give him more positive attention as he had been in trouble so much. It was a good discussion and it came down to telling him “you just need to learn to shut up and take the consequence staff gives you, because every time you argue it just gets you more time.” He laughed and said he knows. “I just can’t help myself.”

We also talked about why he always feels the need to pick at the other boys constantly until they want to beat him up. I was rather impressed with the amount of insight this little guy has when he is actually asked to think about his actions.

As usual I made sure to point out all Jimmy’s personality traits that make me like him so much and encouraged him to bring those out more when he’s with the other kids. Of course, the chances of that happening are probably remote, but at least he gets to hear from from one more person what his strengths are.

After this pleasant little chat, Jimmy gave me a big hug and we put fresh bedding on his bed before getting him off to sleep again. Just one more thing I enjoy about working the night shift. I primarily get to see the kids’ positive sides. And that really helps on the days I have to experience the negatives.