I Have Been Vi-o-late-d ...

...and it was icky!

First of all, y'all just have to know that I am the HUG QUEEN at work. I will give any kid a hug. We have had some seriously gnarly kids whose bathing habits and hygiene left a whole lot to be desired but I have always thought that it was important to make every kid feel accepted and cared for. So I hug.

Yesterday a bunch of the kids had a scavenger hunt after school and were raiding the classrooms looking for goodies to add to their stash. One of the boys from the classroom next door came through and he usually asks for 2-3 hugs a day. He has very thick glasses and probably weighs under a 100 pounds so hugs are a bid deal for him. Anyways, he managed to scoop up several treasures from my room and while I was busy looking to see if I had a book that they needed he hugged me from behind.

Hmmm.... this has never happened before.

I turn sideways and give him a side hug as he says thank you and I turn back towards the bookshelf. That was a mistake. I was immediately wrapped up in another hug and this one I could feel from my shoulders down to my knees. He was WAY inside my comfort zone. I think I must have really barked out his name 'cuz he bolted out of my room like his feet were on fire.

I notified the school staff of what had happened and talked to the teacher next door. I explained that I wasn't comfortable giving this boy a hug for a while and that he would have to earn trust back. I'm pretty sure that he (the kid) knows that a "talk" is coming because he was avoiding me like I had the plague today. That suits me just fine. I was tired and achy all day so I really wasn't looking forward to talking to him.

As a matter of fact - I didn't hug very many kids at all today.

I have to wonder if it was because I was feeling kind of icky(sick) or if it was because I was feeling kind of icky (violated)...

Hmmmm...