September 2002 - Hilary Price

What a month! What a mission! What a minefield! What a learning curve! What a roller coaster! What a leveler!

After the euphoria of the opening, the launch, the media, the hype... Comes the day-to-day slog of just coping… barely coping… wondering if you are coping.

Is this burn-out? Is this normal? How did I get here? Are we really making a difference?

We fielded our first major disasters at the home - children doing "a wheels up" causing anarchy - police - drama. Time for reflections after that! How could we have done it differently?

This month has been a never-ending, on-going, interminable, incessant, unexpected grassroots toil!

We had a child admitted to hospital with meningitis - yup - full blown - quick management of the case by the house parents ended in a positive outcome. It was a close call and a reminder of the fragility and vulnerability of the children, our care for them and the responsibility of that.

We also admitted two little girls of 5 and 7 for 5-day respite care. It has meant huge adjustments but it went very well and they settled very quickly. We now look forward to the possibility of returning them to their older sister and parents.

On a personal note, September 11 - I was sworn in as a NZ citizen. I figured it was absolutely essential to carry the flag with me as a 'true-blue' on this World of Difference initiative. Having been a permanent resident for 8 ½ years - thanks Vodafone, I'm in.

I took the children on a 5-day trip to Lake Tarawera during the holidays. This provided the House Parents with some much need respite, and was a wonderful opportunity to have fun with the children.

We roared down the Luge; jumped into the Biplane Dog-fight Simulator, canoed on Lake Tarawera and found nesting swans and baby sygnetts. We spent a day at Leisure World's water slides - the dinosaur park there was a highlight. By the time we returned, I had some tired teddies that slept all the way home.

Thems the ups and downs - see you next month.

Hilary

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