Nicodemus 3:5
Nico, preoccupied with his parents’ strained relationship, finds himself at a nearly empty school due to a snow day. He joins students building a snowman and contemplates using activities to improve his parents’ communication, drawing from his mediation and mentoring training.
Do You Want To Build A Snowman
Sir John A. was like a ghost town. Five teachers and roughly eighty-seven percent of the student population were either stuck at home or frolicking in the snow. For the educators and students who made their way to school, the day was filled with activities, games, and little to no work. A few educators got to use the time to plan and organize, but not Nicodemus. He was still processing the events between his mother and father from Sunday’s dinner. He spent the entire morning looking at the to-do list he created, but the only checkmark was beside Lisa’s name. His mind was not in the right place.
He attempted to focus his thoughts, but each time, he was overcome with concern. Unlike when he was teaching, he much rather be at school when it was at capacity and bustling. He wanted to be productive but could not will himself to work. He decided to go outside and contribute to the seven-foot-tall snowman staff and students were building. “Hey Mr. Nichols, whassup? Are you coming to help us build our tribute to Sir John A?” The students from grades seven and eight were fully immersed in the construction; anything was better than doing schoolwork. “Nope, I’m out here to bake an upside-down pineapple cake!” Nico often used sarcasm with students. It was amazing how play and activity changed their usual tough, adult-like attitudes to the fun-loving and cooperative kids that they were.
Nico wondered how he could bring about similar conversions with his parents. That was the only agenda on his mind. He felt obligated to them. If he did not show up for Sunday dinner, they would not talk to each other. Prascilla was notorious for giving his father the cold shoulder. Lu was known for provoking a reaction out of her by any means necessary. Other than during resentful arguments, they barely said more than four words to each other during the day.
While in search of the perfect limbs to attach to the Father of Confederation monument, Nico had an idea to incorporate activities and maybe some fun into Sunday dinners. He was always idealistic like that, solving problems in his mind, and then attempting to implement them. His training in mediation and mentoring pushed him to believe he was the best person to mend the rift between his parents. He knew neither of them would be interested in couples counselling; it was not part of their culture, and they were equally too proud and set in their ways to admit their marriage was falling apart. They chose the easier path of blaming each other rather than holding their behaviours into account. He felt optimistic and started brainstorming the perfect activity for his family to share.
