Lessons From the Edge

Napkin placement really doesn't matter.

Tuesday we had our monthly "Pizza Night" activity and I had the joy of having C help me get things set up. C has been rather restless lately and was just looking for things to do Tuesday, so she spent extra time with me - and that meant getting ready for Pizza Night.
C has memory problems, and following any kind of instruction can be a big challenge for her so I tried to come up with an easy thing for her to do to help. I had already put place mats on the tables, and figured it would be an easy task for C to put a napkin on each place mat. So, that's what I asked her to do.
Poor C even had trouble with that easy assignment. I walked around to each table with her and she'd look at me asking, "Is this where I put it?" as she placed the napkin in any number of spots on the table. I simply smiled and said, "Yes. That's fine." And as she fumbled to get just one napkin at a time I said, "You know, people usually need more than one napkin. It would be OK to give them some extras." So she put down small stacks as her fingers would allow.

When we finished, I looked around the room at the tables - which would not meet Miss Manners' standards, and I looked at C - who was proud of the work she'd done, and I became certain: Napkin placement really doesn't matter.