I think of him...often...

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT....The giveaway for the Wii Fit Plus will officially close on Monday, Dec. 14, at 8:00 pm Pacific time. The winner of the giveaway will be notified and announced on Tuesday, December 15, 2009. So, get those entries in!

I'm excited to celebrate the Christmas holiday by giving away a brand new Nintendo Wii Fit Plus. I have the Wii Fit and trust me, the Wii Fit Plus has way more to offer!

Note: This is ONLY the Wii Fit Plus with the balance board and not the Wii Console. You must purchase the Wii Gaming Console to use Wii Fit Plus.

If you'd like to enter for a chance to win, please go here for the rules and the opportunity to enter.

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Shame on you all for thinking that I was thinking about something that wasn't purely innocent.

I'm going to tell you the story of a little boy named Malik who was bad as molasses but stole my heart completely!

When I was the principal's secretary at an elementary school, I met many kids who made my life rich and full. Some didn't have to try hard...they immediately had me wrapped around their little fingers.

Such was the case of Malik. Our first meeting wasn't a pleasant one. He was sent to the principal's office because he had kicked the teacher. He was told to sit in my office and to think about his consequences while the principal attempted to get a hold of his dad and the school police. Malik was 6 years old, Black and hair in cornrows. There was something about his sullen demeanor, his lip poked out and his glare, cutting right into me. I glared back, not even blinking.

I asked why he kicked the teacher and he refused to answer me. He was a good glarer though and I knew that to win the glare contest, I couldn't let him see me sweat. Finally, I relented and asked him if he was thinking about why he did what he did. He was silent and then looked down, then scowled at me and mumbled, "I don't like da teacher. She's mean to me."

It seems that Malik was sorta a problem child at the elementary school and not many teachers were willing to have him in their classroom. He was abandoned by his mom, raised by an older and abusive dad and wore the same dirty clothes and matted hair every day. He was a smart kid who loved to toy with me and see how he could get me to break. I refused. I realized that he didn't know what a Black mom was like. All he had seen was a mean, non-approachable dad. So, I set out to talk to him. To hear him out. The many times he came into the office, he was carried in, struggling. Other times, he literally ran for freedom and jumped the chain link fence and went running across a busy street. Yet, there was something about Malik that made me understand him. He was like a scared little boy, wanting someone to love him and to love in return.

One of his punishments for an offense (he had many) was to come into the office and to help me during recess. When his punishment was over, he continued to come into my office, to sit and sort through my paper clips and sharpen my pencils. He talked to me. The ice began to melt. He told me about his dad...not having a mom...all the while, still sullen with others that tried to talk to him.

The last time I saw Malik was when he was carried into the office for swinging his backpack at one of the teachers. He was being carried by two people as he struggled. Left in alone in the principal's office for one moment, he acted out of rage and picked up chairs and threw them, then swept papers off the desk and went straight for the principal's computer monitor. I opened the door and literally yelled, "You better put that chair down if you know what's good for you. You know better acting like this. You better straighten up or else." While I gave him "the look" he froze in midair and then put the chair down. He sat down quietly. I wanted to hug him. I knew that he just needed to know that he was going to be okay. Instead, a week later, after he was suspended, he was the very first 6 year old to ever be expelled from an elementary school in the area.

I was angry. If I had been asked, I would've told them that he had made great strides. That he was beginning to smile. That he even laughed with me and looked forward to eating lunch in my office. He wasn't a bad kid...he was a very smart kid that just needed a little love (like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree).

I never saw Malik again yet, it's been four years and I can't help but think of him and pray that he is safe, happy and most of all, loved.