Picking up from yesterday –
Once she decided to put the fabric straight on the bed, I offered to try to sew the fabric to the foam board if that’s what she wanted, but she said she thought we could actually just wrap it around the bottom and tape it instead of trying to sew through the tough foam board stuff. I thought that was a nice idea.
So, we laid out the fabric on the bed. She flipped it over and taped underneath it.
I really adored working with Mia. I thought she was awesome!
She was a quick thinker, not afraid to make decisions (or to abandon ideas when they didn’t seem like they were working). She wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted/needed – asking for someone to help her sew, asking me to cut a leg when the usual volunteer who did it was busy.
She wasn’t afraid to jump in boldly. When it was time for me to cut the legs of the bed, she set our supplies up, clamping them to the table. She even held the end of it (by the clamp) to be extra helpful.
(Don’t worry. I had my other hand also holding and closer to the saw than hers. Her hand was absolutely nowhere near the saw, so she was totally safe.)
She also zipped around the barrels of supplies finding what she needed, without needing anyone to hold her hand or give her ideas.
(Yes, I know children can’t generally run around the world completely unsupervised ’cause it could be kind of dangerous. But she was in this really small warehouse where we could easily see her across the room as she looked.)
Basically, she was strong and awesome. I love when I meet little girls who make me want to be like them. She inspired me, and I hope she doesn’t lose any of her wonderful qualities as she grows up.
So, as has happened multiple times now, I think the people I was supposed to be helping at this volunteer event helped, inspired, and taught me way more than the other way around.
I’m so glad I’m now acquainted with Trash for Teaching, and if I ever work for a place that’s gonna have a lot of leftover stuff, I’ll definitely suggest we send it there!