Hi, Parents:
Tonight went surprisingly smoothly. We had a total of thirteen teenagers. Two were absent, and we currently have one opening. The combination of alumni members dominating the group, with fewer new members actually seems to be working quite nicely because it facilitates conversations among all group members. The alumni members are acting “true to form,” where they are asking questions and being inviting to the other members.
The group came in, and one of the group members, (“E”) expressly stated that she did not want to go to Numero Uno, which, unfortunately and coincidentally is where we had already made reservations. This was difficult for her to manage, but, after a short period of time talking with one of the counselors, she was able to come back in and demonstrate some positive coping strategies for being able to manage that, and earn hero tickets along the way. (For any parent who doesn’t know what a hero ticket is: that is when you do something that is low probability or difficult for you.) Other group members tried to help the single member who was not wanting to go to Numero Uno. They offered suggestions, some helpful and some less helpful, but the positive intent was there.
The group then moved on to reviewing their nicknames, and one group member who had been coming up with more violent or negative nicknames (“C”) felt that he was perhaps being singled out or that it was unfair that other people were getting to choose names that were similar to the one that wasn’t considered acceptable for him. It was positive that he was able to then choose a name that the group felt wouldn’t be excessively violent or socially offensive. After reviewing their names, some members of the group added additional behaviors which will be shown at the parent meeting in the first week of December, and then they narrated each of their own profiles and what they planned to work on.
We left at about 5:35 to go to dinner, and did eat at Numero Uno. Everyone seemed to have a pretty relaxed time. Some group members worked a little bit more on manners, some worked on conversations, and some worked on not being excessively silly or provocative. Overall, however, it was a pretty tame and uneventful meeting, and they seemed to have a good time. Two group members who had previously been a little more shy in the beginning of the group showed dramatic improvement with how conversational they became. (“D” and “J”)
In any case, it was a good night, and we look forward to seeing you for the December meetings with a parent meeting for dinner in the first week in December. -- Bruce
