Not the Brightest Bulb at Work Moment

Tentative Equinox suggested I check out Pearl, Why You Little...

Brilliant blog. I laugh. I laugh. I laugh. And she wears the glasses I want.

Today's post Someone's To Blame for This (and It's Probably Me!) got me to thinking about some of my not so perfect moments in the working world. I know, it's hard to believe, but yes, I used to work. And yes, I was not perfect at my craft.

I like the idea of us bloggers publicly admitting we're not perfect. As I've said in an earlier post, I've grown weary of perfect people living in their perfect blogs. Nothing says, "I'm human" like messing up. And boy, am I human.

So I'm starting the ball rolling. Well, I guess Pearl started it, but I caught the ball with my face and am running away with it.

Oh. Also. Mom, if you're reading this, I apologize in advance. I know you tried to raise me better than what you're about to read.

(And oh, on a serious side note. This story is in no way to make fun of someone with a disability. It is only to show me in a pathetic light. Every person I have ever worked with in the world of autism has a piece of my heart and I want to make sure you all know that. I miss being inspired by their determination and perseverance every day. Each child taught me many lessons....when I was the one who was suppose to be teaching them a thing or two.)

So, as I was saying, I used to work. I worked with children with autism within the school system and in home based therapy programs. I also taught some basic therapy workshops for new therapists and families who were just starting home based programs for their children.

I was brilliant at ignoring comments made to me about having coffee breath, but throw a video camera in front of me and I was bound to muck things up.

Case in point.

I was about 2 hours into a training session that was being videotaped. I was discussing the finer points of redirecting inappropriate behaviour to a more appropriate behaviour. The example I was using to illustrate my point was about a boy who flapped his hands and the goal was to redirect his hands to a more socially appropriate behaviour. In this instance, the child loved those stress relieving squishing balls and long story short, he had one in each pocket and when he used his hands in an inappropriate way, he was redirected to squeeze a squishy ball. There's way more to the discussion than that, but, you get the gist of it.

So after I had done a fabulous job explaining the behavioural science behind the procedure, blah blah blah....yadayadayada....I said,

"So, instead of flapping his hands, you can see how it's more socially appropriate for him to have his hands in his pocket and play with his balls."

Did I mention it was being videotaped?

So I did what any person in my shoes would do. I looked at my watch and declared that it was time for a break, then hid in the family's bathroom for about 10 minutes banging my head again the wall and wondering where I could find a large enough magnet to nonchalantly walk past the video camera and erase the tape.

My lame excuse is that I was pregnant and didn't yet know it. My hypothesis is that I had no blood circulating in my brain that day as every drop in my body was busy growing a placenta. The only positive I could spin out of the blunder was at least I didn't say it in front of the entire school staff where I worked. I was scheduled to give a talk there the following month.

Did I mention that I worked at a private Christian school?

And yes, I used a different example for explaining redirection of inappropriate behaviour when I gave my talk the following month. Which is kinda funny when you think about it. I ended up redirecting myself from inappropriate behaviour.

So dear readers, the ball is in your court. Take the ball and run with it. Share with all of us in this very public forum your 'not the brightest bulb at work' moment. And if you have a blog, I dare you to tell the world there. Just leave a link in my comments section.

(If this was a really perfect blog, I suppose I would put up a Mr. Linky but to be honest, this entry has taken me about 5 hours to complete, what with the delivering of the Boy's newspapers since he's sick, getting him glasses of water, taking the dog out to pace around the yard and not pee, and, well, I just broke up about the 18th fight between The Princess and the Baby. I think I'm done for the day. And it's only 2pm. Just keeping it real. And not perfect.)