Pre-game Prep and Gameday Stress: Sunday and Monday

SUNDAY

Slept in a little bit and went to mass at the chapel on base. The service was... quaint. The priest was very business like. I think I'll check out the church down the street next Sunday.

After, I had a busy day in my room preparing for my study abroad program in Dubai next spring. Sent lots of emails and filled out lots of forms. By the time I checked the clock, it was 6 pm and time to eat a quick pizza bagel dinner from the microwave before meeting the group and going to practice for our first day of camp.

At the youth center, we went over blitz. Blitz is how we start off the day at camp. All the counselors line up in front of the wiggling mass of children and "blitz" them. No, we don't lunge at them like Irish rugby players, instead, we go through an intense routine of songs relating to the week's theme. This is what we practiced and by the time we were through, I was very nervous. I had almost forgotten all the songs I had learned in training and needed lots of them on hand for Monday. We finished some last minute decorations and left. Went to bed early after making my lunch and packing my bag of tricks for the next day.

MONDAY

WORK

Woke up, got ready, and met the group in the lobby of the housing at 8 am. Drove the car back to the Youth Center as requested. Everyone was tense before blitz but we got out there and did it. Swear to God, my mouth has never been so dry which is comical seeing as some of the people in the crowd I was trying to impress can hardly read yet. We split into groups and I headed for the bowling alley. Because the golf group had stolen the majority of my group, I only had two of my regular campers. That was fine with me. We bowled for an hour or so and it was the perfect way to get a feel for the group. I generally had pretty good first impressions of the kids but it's easy to see how constantly reminding them to do or not do things will get tiring. Around 11, we headed back to the center for some light games and then lunch. At lunch I was told, "Gee, you have some hairy legs. You could make a teddy bear out of those!" Maybe I will, kid. Maybe I will.

In the afternoon we were playing a game that involved closing your eyes. One kid said, "but I can't see when my eyes are closed!" I thought that was pretty funny. Some of my ball games like Monkey in the Middle and Fire's Up went awry. Somehow, the only two water bottles with loose lids got knocked over (thank you, Murphy's Law) and the place seemed to be in general disarray for most of the afternoon. Then we went to the pool.

Because my group hadn't planned to go to the pool, I didn't have my trunks with me so I got to sit poolside in the indescribable weather and play games. This turned out to be one of the best parts of my day. I'm told one of my pals today has gone off his ADHD meds for the summer. I didn't know this until I had played a two hour game of Monopoly with him. Definitely a proud moment. Sweltering we returned to the center for some air conditioning, snacks and low active games. These are games that don't involve a lot of exertion. Thank God. Following, we did closing (mellow songs. Think Kumbaya) and then free time until parents began picking up their kids. I monitored/played in the block area. Again, my ADHD pal and one other camper hung out with me and by another miracle, we managed to put all the blocks back where we found them, thus saving me fifteen minutes of post-camp day hassle.

I'm realizing how cliche the little things sound but at the same time, I'm realizing that little things are what little kids are all about. I knew it would be a big deal for a little kid with ADHD to put blocks away, but now that I've seen it firsthand, it's much more impressive. A lot of things in camp are tedious to the point that you have to actively remember to do them (think, Incident Report sheets) but when you see one kid giving the ball to another who is really sensitive about feeling left out, you don't need to be reminded to congratulate the good deed.

AFTER WORK

I had planned to go work out after work but through another inexplicable stroke of Texas generosity, we ended up with the car again. Our director took us out for ice cream at a roadside place down the street and then to Walmart for some more supplies/provisions. After the firstrun, I realized I needed some more dinner food so I hit the frozen foods right out of the gate. After the store, we headed back, unloaded, ate dinner in our directors room over a few Family Guy episodes and had a quick meeting for tomorrow's plan. Then back to the room for a quick (yeah right) blogpost.