Instead of swimming, we fed ducks at the park, played on the swings and did puzzles at the library. Its amazing how easily you can get the girls excited to do any of these activities. If you just say "its really fun! come on!" they run after you and join in. I said I wanted to do one of the puzzles and all three of the girls were on the floor with me. They were amazed by my puzzle skills (all 48 pieces of each of these puzzles). They even got competitive when I started asking them to point out different states on the map of the US puzzle, rather than just fitting them together by colors on the box.
The girls frustrate me to no end sometimes, but the majority of the time spent on our adventures are generally pretty entertaining. The girls would move in with me tomorrow if I asked. They beg me to let them spend the night. They want to meet my friends, work out with me, clean my apartment for me, and play with my cat. I'm really glad that I decided to mentor this family of kids. It makes me feel so awful that I may be one of the only positive influences in their lives. But WHAT I'VE LEARNED so far about mentoring, and in general, working with kids of poverty, is that you cannot save them. You can guide them for the short period of time that you are in their lives. You can give them such great memories that they will never forget you. But you can't help them all to make the right decisions, graduate high school (without getting pregnant) and go to college. You can't stop them from getting in a fight and getting arrested for battery. But you can be an example of an alternative way of living. I have the knowledge that they may someday make a better decision because they saw me act in a certain way.
