a smile on my face

Tuesdays are fun days in my world. No matter how rough the day it, it almost always ends in a smile.

On Tuesday evenings, I volunteer at my local children's hospital. I help out with activity groups, by escorting children able to come out of their rooms down to the play room, and then help with the activity. Since the group is usually run by the music therapist, most of the time we are doing musical activities. Singing silly songs is a favorite activity for the kids.

Today, we had a very small group of children. Most of the time, it was just one girl who decided to make up her own song while the music therapist played the guitar and I drummed along. Then, she decided to have each of us take turns.

It is awfully hard to make up a song off the top of your head! The playroom has a jungle mural on the wall, which provided our inspiration. I managed to pull something together, and somehow it actually rhymed. I can't remember exactly what I sang, other than that it was about a monkey named Nick who played in the trees. One of the lines was about him looking for bananas and finding peaches instead.

A lot of people ask me if it is sad to volunteer at the hospital, and honestly it is not. At least, not with what I do. I do see children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses, but I do not see the sickest children. What I see are children who just want to be kids and do normal things, like sing, make crafts, play games and read books. They just happen to have IV's, colostomy bags, bald heads, or ride in wheelchairs.