Best Moment

The Freret Neighborhood Center will not be winning my vote as a fun place to volunteer. It was stressful, boring, and confusing. A small house converted into a place of semi-organized chaos in the after-school hours.
I am usually stuck in the 'craft center' with the daunting Ms. Tea, a woman infamous for her loud tones. But about a week ago, my fellow volunteer begged me to switch places. George was endeavoring to teach a child how to add up two-digit numbers. Seeing an escape from the hectic, crafty room I agreed.
As soon as I sat down with the nine-year old child, I realized why George had been so willing to give up his cushy position. Cody had difficulty adding one-digit numbers but the real problem was that this kid was a guesser. His mantra was "Guessing works sometimes!" I showed him the tricks of the trade (the ol' counting on your hand) and I know that he understood it. His problem was that if he did not know the answer off hand, or if the answer did not come to him within five seconds, he would guess.
I worked with him for about a hour or more, and tough love definitely started to come into play. In kid terms, I told him to stop fucking around. I wasn't going to stand for him simply guessing, when I knew he was smart enough to figure it out. We had a very long conversation about the pros and cons of guessing, and fought tooth and nail until it was time to walk home.
As he was packing up his backpack, I put on my bag and started to leave the study room. Cody ran up to me before I could leave and gave me a huge hug, asking when I was going to be back. And that was my very best moment at the center.