From Wed June 22 (Last Wednesday)
So this is a day late and I apologize, but here's post two about my eventful day yesterday... jsut because this deserved it's own post as it was the biggest thing to happen at camp today.
SHORT VERSION: While at the pool, and in a completely unexplainable fashion, my co-counselor Kimberly managed to get a quarter inch long puncture wound on her right shin. It literally looked like someone took a metal rod or like a pen and jabbed it in her leg. Due to the odd nature of its appearance she was taken to the ER at St. Joe's to have it looked at. The thought was that it appeared something was lodged in the wound and there would be an obvious need to pull it out to avoid infection. A lifeguard drove her and I went along by Kimberly's request for support (she has serious issues with needles and hospitals and all things related). It turned out to be void of any foreign object and was just a really deep insertion wound (it's literally like a trench in her shin). We returned after a few hours with a single stitch in her leg. She has now been dubbed stitch (and I Lilo by default) and will have it for 10 days before it's removed.
The Long Version: So at about 11:25 (20 minutes before lunch), my co-counselor Kim had an accident at the pool. Some kids were trying to push in counselor Dave and in the process Dave grabbed Kim or something ... or whatever, somehow Kim got pushed in too and in the process she scraped her leg against the smooth drain that runs around the pool (and all pools for that matter). She nearly took the chair in with her. Mos tof the pool missed the incident, it happened so fast and was a pretty quiet event. After a bit I was told about it so I went to see Kim in the lifeguard office. I could't understand why like two-three guards and two-three counselors were int he office as I was under the impression it was just a cut. In fact I was one of only a few counselors allowed in at the time. So I went in and I glanced at this small quarter inch to maybe a half inch long (really really short!) cut on her shin. She was crying so I gave her a hug and tried to comfort her while thinking, "Not sure I understand the big deal here guys ... maybe she just doesn't handle blood well." I then got a better look at it (from a bird's eye view) and realize that it was less like a cut and more like a hole with a dark center. It really looked like something was actually in the wound, which was just bizarre. I held her hand and made jokes and tried to be there for her in whatever way seemed appropriate as she has serious issues with all things hospital related. She really was getting upset by just psyching herself out.
At first lifeguard David Biggs was going to drive her and I told her I would handle the tribe with no problemo (they are a great group of kids), but after a few minutes of her being upset it seemed like she was going to need someone close to her go with just to help her through it, even if the wound was small and the trip more precautionary in nature. I offered to go or to go get a counselor she'd want to go... after a few more minutes, and in mid-sob she asked me if I'd go, so I talked to a few other counselors about taking over until we were gone.
It should be known, through the whole ordeal ... hugging, and making her laugh, and being the support and having people take care of our kids and everything that was included, I waaaaaaaaaaay felt like we were a married couple. Haha, it was so weird. Not becuase of romance or feelings, or anything but because of the situation and just the words being used with camp and the campers we're in charge of.
So David, Kimberly and I entered St. Joe's ER and it was so bizarre. Like the desk attendant was talking on the phone and told us she'd be right with us (she wasnt anywhere near the desk, I actually had to ring a bell!) and Kimbo was having issues because she wanted to get in and ge tout. She kept saying, "What if I had a serious injury or was like gushing blood, I'd just be waiting." Haha, so finally the attendant told her to fill out some paperowkr and we sat down. Kimbo and I were both in our swimsuits (wearing shoes with no socks ... I mean who has time for socks when counselors have trenches in their shins!). It was sooooooo cold, and Kimbo spent the whole time wearing the towel like a dress/skirt....after about 20 minutes we went to a nurses office where David and I continued our smart eleck tear. It turns out we're both huge smart elecks with lots of funny things to say and neither of us were big fans of Kimbo being upset/crying, so we did our best to keep her laughing at all times. In fact the first few minutes in the nurses room the nurse (a very nice lady) told Kim that she did have the right to have us removed and not be there if we were being too harsh or something. Thankfully Kim took what we said as jokes and told the nurse we wer ehelping not hurting the situation.
We then were taken to a real ER room where two nurses came in. One was really young and a nurse in training and one was the obvious real nurse. It was bizarre it was like being at a restaurant and having the server in training with the real server standing by .... except at a hospital. Anyway the two nurses turned a light on and started examining the wound. It was sooo funny because they literally said word for word whatever everyone in the guard office had said. Like, "Wow, that's odd" .... "Looks like a puncture wound" ... "It seems like somthinhg could be stuck in there" ... I just wanted to be like WE KNOW, That's why we came here, to have someone check it out. haha... it was really humorous, they left and then I took off for the bathroom only after Kimbo was all like, I just know that u're gonna go to the bathroom and the doctor will come in and stitch me up and u'll be gone (my whole reason for being there was to hold Kim's hand while she dealt with being stitched up)... I thought, if the doctor can come in, check it out, and stitch you up in the time it takes me to pee he deserves a freaking nobel prize or something.
Anyhoo, it should also be noted here that the nurse in training was really really cute/hot. OMG! It should also be noted that no, I did not flirt with her or get her number. Aside from the fact I am dating Megan, I didn't feel like I should be using Kim's plight to further my own interest. It seemed pretty wrong to me, so I held off. Hahahaha...but fair game, if u go to the S.t Joe's ER during the day it'll be worth ur time (As long as ur not the hurt one!)
So then the doc and the nurse came in and the nurse was awesome (always are!). She talked with us a lot and was also really fascinated by the wound. THen the doc shot Kim's leg up with whatever they use to numb it and within like 5 seconds he had taken a pair of medical pliars or something and dove into the wound hardcore. I mean, he jabbed those suckers in there and twisted them around so much and moved them a ton ... it was apparently an extremely deep wound. He was really really going to town. I didn't flinch over anything, any of the blood or the stitching ... but when he did that David and I both sort of flinched and looked away at first. The nurse even commented to David, you don';t have to look you know. It was pretty crazy and Kim, who had been an emotional mess most of the time, was giggling like a school girl and cracking up the whole time. She said she knew what the doctor was doing and that it should hurt, but she couldn't feel it and it was sooo funny to her.
Haha...so the doctor put one stich in and then wrapped up like half her leg in a hefty amount of gauze. It looked like she was coming back from 'Nam with 30 stitches, not the one she had. In all fairness it was a crazy wound considering it was sooo deep, but because it wasn't wide it only required one stitch which just makes her seem wimpy. Haha...the best part is the doc wraps her leg up crazy like that and then says keep this on till tomorrow and then put a band-aid over it. I aske dhim, "Just a band-aid?!?!?" Becuase it lwas like, let me get this straight we're gonna wrap her leg up like that so it looks like she just got a shark-bite patched up and then tomorrow she needs a little band-aid. It was a humorous ending.
We then returned to camp, about 2 hrs after we left and everyone rushed to see Kim and to hear if she was alright. At one point I was walking back from our little hut from dropping things off and I saw this like swarm of cousnelors around her asking about things and it was like ... all this buzz for a single stitch. Haha ... and everyone nicknmaed her stitch after that (and by default I was given the name Lilo so we could be Lilo and Stitch). Haha...
It was a crazy day and while we had good times, I am in no hurry to rush back to visit good 'ol St. Joe again.
Rock on Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka. Yeah for Single stitch days in our Normal Life!
-Jungle Jim-
Wednesday, June 29
Old Post: Camp Weddings
From Wednesday June 22 (last week):
Today was the most eventful day at camp I have experienced yet. Here's post one about the day...
First, playing this amazingly fun game two of my campers had to propose to a counselor and one, despite his adamant protest, is getting married next Wed. My whole tribe is geeked as everyone is a bridesmaid, groomsman, etc. I am in fact the minister for said ceremony. We are hoping the state turns a blind eye since its' not exactly legal. I also got to draw purple whiskers on my Co-Counselor Kimbo, who had to have whiskers drawn on her and act like a cat for part of the game. Unfortunately, as retribution I had to propose to a counselor (and a very male counselor) named Cory. He's a big Cardinal fan which makes it bearable ... haha, actually it was just hysterical. A great part was that all of Cory's campers kept then asserting him as being gay and blah blah blah. No one bothered to assert I was gay and a few even discussed me proposing with Kelly and telling Cory no more engagement. So that was waaaaaaay funny, I propose as a joke and Cory gets labeled the gay counselor. Haha ... hhhhmm, and a little girl from another tribe had to propose to me and I turned her down cause I said I was already engaged (I had just asked Cory) ... and a friend of hers yelled at me for being rude. I was like, how does that make sense! Just because I said no doesnt mean it was rude!
Today was the most eventful day at camp I have experienced yet. Here's post one about the day...
First, playing this amazingly fun game two of my campers had to propose to a counselor and one, despite his adamant protest, is getting married next Wed. My whole tribe is geeked as everyone is a bridesmaid, groomsman, etc. I am in fact the minister for said ceremony. We are hoping the state turns a blind eye since its' not exactly legal. I also got to draw purple whiskers on my Co-Counselor Kimbo, who had to have whiskers drawn on her and act like a cat for part of the game. Unfortunately, as retribution I had to propose to a counselor (and a very male counselor) named Cory. He's a big Cardinal fan which makes it bearable ... haha, actually it was just hysterical. A great part was that all of Cory's campers kept then asserting him as being gay and blah blah blah. No one bothered to assert I was gay and a few even discussed me proposing with Kelly and telling Cory no more engagement. So that was waaaaaaay funny, I propose as a joke and Cory gets labeled the gay counselor. Haha ... hhhhmm, and a little girl from another tribe had to propose to me and I turned her down cause I said I was already engaged (I had just asked Cory) ... and a friend of hers yelled at me for being rude. I was like, how does that make sense! Just because I said no doesnt mean it was rude!
Tuesday, June 28
Animals, Crushes, and Underwear - Oh my!
Let me start out by saying that I absolutely love my campers. All of them. Sometimes they sure can make it difficult, but I love them all, nonetheless. That said, these past two days have been trying, due to the kids acting up more than usual (probably cause of the ridiculously humid, sticky weather), and goodness knows the weather itself has been a beast. I don't have many stories from this week (yet), but there are definitely some from the past two weeks that warrant sharing.
Of animals . . .
My Wednesday campers are an interesting lot. One of the most memorable of them (by far) is camper Amanda (Alligator Amanda, as decided after our Week No.1 Name Game). She's a very sweet girl who'll talk your ear off if you stand in one place long enough. For our first Pow-wow (with the Name Game), we played good ol' 2 Truths and a Lie.
For the most part, we heard the typical set: I have a brother, I like to play soccer, I've been to Alaska (w/ Alaska being the lie). Then it was Amanda's turn. I have five cats, we live in town, I can talk to animals and understand what they say to me. That's right ladies and gents, guess the lie. (Hint, she and her five cats live nowhere near town.) My Wednesday camper has a very vivid imagination. Throughout the day, she proceeded to share with me her "animal speech" (think Dory ala Finding Nemo . . .) It was very enlightening, and I can now speak a little bit of squirrel, geesese (as I was informed is what their language is called), and whaleish (which surprisingly sounded quite similar to Dory's version).
Of crushes . . .
Again with the Wednesday campers . . . Another of my girls seems to find herself attached at the hip to a certain co-counselor of mine . . . Last week, Avery and Tiffany decided that the best pre-camp morning game was keep-away with Aaron's hat and sunglasses (the keep-away was, of course, from him). During the day, Avery wouldn't go anywhere without Aaron, and if she was being stubborn about anything, she had to talk to Aaron about it (I definitely wasn't cool enough - or maybe cute enough?? - for Avery to listen to me, and she sure seemed to develop an awful lot of headaches whenever Aaron was around . . .
So, tomorrow will be interesting. :o) Ooooh - I almost forgot, while we're on the topic of Wednesday campers (and crushes!) - we have a Choctaw/Cherokee wedding tomorrow for pow-wow! Mr. Patrick is the (reluctantly) lucky man. He seems to think it wasn't a real proposal, but a game, or something . . . I say that I sure took it seriously when he proposed . . . Yeah, last Wednesday was a fun day - three proposals in the course of an hour! Kinda makes a girl feel pop-u-ler -- lar ( ;o) -- Aimee) So at the present, I am engaged to Patrick (Choctaw), Hunter(Comanche), and Counselor Kevin (also Comanche). Kevin is the only of the three who knows of the others, but he has assured me that he's cool with the multiple engagements. :o)
Of underwear . . .
Right. Last Monday, I hear shouts in the locker room as we're all getting changed out of our swimsuits. "Kelly, Kelly! I can't find mumble mumble mumble!" So I go to find my camper Natalie standing stark naked (not unusual for a Monday camper . . .), towel in one hand, emptied out bag in the other. "Kelly, I can't find my underwear!!" "I can see that Natalie, please wrap up in your towel and let's see if we can't find it." "She can have my underwear!!" Someone else's camper who was changing in with mine decided to offer my girl a pair of her underwear. She assured us that it was a clean, spare pair, and I told her thanks, but we'd just find Natalie's . . . After another few seconds of looking, the undies in question turned up rolled up in her shorts. Problem solved, underwear found. Hooray. :o)
Never a dull moment with my campers. I love it.
Of animals . . .
My Wednesday campers are an interesting lot. One of the most memorable of them (by far) is camper Amanda (Alligator Amanda, as decided after our Week No.1 Name Game). She's a very sweet girl who'll talk your ear off if you stand in one place long enough. For our first Pow-wow (with the Name Game), we played good ol' 2 Truths and a Lie.
For the most part, we heard the typical set: I have a brother, I like to play soccer, I've been to Alaska (w/ Alaska being the lie). Then it was Amanda's turn. I have five cats, we live in town, I can talk to animals and understand what they say to me. That's right ladies and gents, guess the lie. (Hint, she and her five cats live nowhere near town.) My Wednesday camper has a very vivid imagination. Throughout the day, she proceeded to share with me her "animal speech" (think Dory ala Finding Nemo . . .) It was very enlightening, and I can now speak a little bit of squirrel, geesese (as I was informed is what their language is called), and whaleish (which surprisingly sounded quite similar to Dory's version).
Of crushes . . .
Again with the Wednesday campers . . . Another of my girls seems to find herself attached at the hip to a certain co-counselor of mine . . . Last week, Avery and Tiffany decided that the best pre-camp morning game was keep-away with Aaron's hat and sunglasses (the keep-away was, of course, from him). During the day, Avery wouldn't go anywhere without Aaron, and if she was being stubborn about anything, she had to talk to Aaron about it (I definitely wasn't cool enough - or maybe cute enough?? - for Avery to listen to me, and she sure seemed to develop an awful lot of headaches whenever Aaron was around . . .
So, tomorrow will be interesting. :o) Ooooh - I almost forgot, while we're on the topic of Wednesday campers (and crushes!) - we have a Choctaw/Cherokee wedding tomorrow for pow-wow! Mr. Patrick is the (reluctantly) lucky man. He seems to think it wasn't a real proposal, but a game, or something . . . I say that I sure took it seriously when he proposed . . . Yeah, last Wednesday was a fun day - three proposals in the course of an hour! Kinda makes a girl feel pop-u-ler -- lar ( ;o) -- Aimee) So at the present, I am engaged to Patrick (Choctaw), Hunter(Comanche), and Counselor Kevin (also Comanche). Kevin is the only of the three who knows of the others, but he has assured me that he's cool with the multiple engagements. :o)
Of underwear . . .
Right. Last Monday, I hear shouts in the locker room as we're all getting changed out of our swimsuits. "Kelly, Kelly! I can't find mumble mumble mumble!" So I go to find my camper Natalie standing stark naked (not unusual for a Monday camper . . .), towel in one hand, emptied out bag in the other. "Kelly, I can't find my underwear!!" "I can see that Natalie, please wrap up in your towel and let's see if we can't find it." "She can have my underwear!!" Someone else's camper who was changing in with mine decided to offer my girl a pair of her underwear. She assured us that it was a clean, spare pair, and I told her thanks, but we'd just find Natalie's . . . After another few seconds of looking, the undies in question turned up rolled up in her shorts. Problem solved, underwear found. Hooray. :o)
Never a dull moment with my campers. I love it.
Ignorant Chess, Water Spiders and Pranks!
Today's tales and life lessons from Daycamp as told by Jungle Jim:
-The re-occuring theme for the day was: Just because we have 10 zillion markers doesn't mean any of them remotely work.
-In the AM, before first period, I spy a couple of kids playing chess so I walk on over to check out the game. The pieces are all well scattered across the board and the two kids were staring very intently at the game, seemingly really into it. By all accounts these were a couple of second graders playing a riveting game of chess. As I first get there it all seems to normal to me, except both sides queen and king are busted at the top so you can't tell which is which. This is actually quite common and generally kids have some ingenius ways of marking which is a king or a queen.
So I inquire, which is the king? They both shurg their shoulders and one says I don't know... A few minutes later I notice that one of the just moved their rook (the castle looking pieces) diagonally. This is a major n0-no. So I ask, have you guys ever played chess before? One says, and as non-chalantly as possible, "Nope" while the other pipes up, "I've played checkers before ... once" ... Hahaha, I about lost it. So there ya have it, you don't have to have any clue of how to play chess to actually play and enjoy the game.
-Everyone, but my coco ordered hot dogs for lunch. Proof that there is something kids unanimously likew more than PBJ's...
-It turns out the pool is an excellent place to be at 9am on a day when the heat index nears or tops 100...
-SPIDER STORY TIME: So in the pool the cutest little girl at all of Tuesday camp (and from my tribe!) comes up to me and asks me to fix her goggles. So I sit up on the drain that run around the pool to work on fixing the little plastic pain in the rears ... when Emma (the little girl) yells SPIDER! So I hope off that drain as fast as anyone's hopped off anything and turn around, half expecting her to tell me it's on me (it should be noted here that I definitely have an irrational fear of Spiders!!!) ... When I see this spider sitting below the half-inch deep water in the drain. It's a nasty looking bugger that's prolly half-dollar sized (like including legs, it's legs would touch the outer edge of a half-dolllar). It's white with weird black spots, looks kinda hairy, and is like no other spider I've ever seen. I make the comment to Emma and another kid next to me, "Hm, I didn't know that Spiders could live in water."
At this point, Emma seems more fascinated than scared. She's really getting her face pretty close as she peers and I could just see this thing jumping at her nose or something. It started to move some in the water so I look down the pool wall and demand that a girl about 6 feet away whose not paying attention give me her kickboard. I had to ask twice to get her attention and I am sure she thinks I am mean cause I was agitated, but like I said not a fan of spiders so I was trying to deal with the situation calmly and quickly.
I take the kickboard and go to smash the spider, but the little bugger was bright and right as I attacked like jumped out of the water and onto the side of the board and began climbing up it. Emma and the other kid both kind of jumped and naturally I dropped the board as I jumped back. So I picki t back up and the spider is back in the drain. I go to smash it again and this time I got the SOB. Naturally I pulled the board away and the spider was just a black little ball, not even recognizable as a spider anymore, just another dead black bug. At this point I am all good and the other kid seems much cooler, but out of nowhere Emma, who had been the coolest out of us all and was totally interested literally turned 180 degrees and ran/swam as fast as she could across and out of the pool while yelling/screaming "EEEWWWWWWW" at the top of her lungs. You'd have thought someone had just smashed a booger on her face or something the way she was hollering. I couldn't help but crack up. Why that little girl had no problems with the real spider (which really was gross) and not the dead ball u could hardly see is beyond my ability to reason .... but it was sooooo funny!
-For 2nd period POW WOW, Kimbo and I played Bingo with our campers (a great idea!) ... except we forgot prizes, which is crucial to Bingo's success, so we told them their prizes were their daily granola bar snack. They wouldn't get it until they got a BINGO. An interesting idea ... next time we bring prizes!
-For third period games we played mystery kickball where I told some kid to stop feeling sorry for himself and to just get out there and just do it. I gave him the suck it up, quit trying to get attention and play the game (he thought he was too short and slow ...).
-T-Ball is a blast at any age.
-Lunch at the check-in/out shelter was a disaster! We seriously had like 18 juice spills or something.
-Tuesday campers are such little S***S!! They whine about everything...
-Kinberly is the best Co-counselor ever!
-So for my break I lay down and take a nap. After like 10 minutes I fell asleep and begin having this intesne dream. I don;t remember anything exept it was waaaaay intense and I am pretty sure it was about camp. I am also napping a few feet from Kelly and shirtless because it was sooo muggy and I was too sweaty. In the middle of this intense dream I come charging back to life like someone coming up for air after being partially drowned. Kyle Lawton, in cohort with Aaron Gross, decided it would be funny to wake Jim up with cold water. So Kyle ran over, took her mug full of ice cold water and dumped it on me while napping ... which is what brought me out of my intense dream. My heart was racing soooo fast for like 20 minutes after. It scared the living heck out of me (and woke Kelly up and scared her I might add!) Apparently my face when I woke up was beyond priceless and their only regret was that theiy were the only two who got to see it. I can only imagine ... those two have no idea what's coming to them one day! Haha, what a great prank!
-For games this afternoon we watched an hour of Looney Tunes in the basement because of the heat. While this started out to be good times, 40 minutes or an hour of RoadRunner/Coyote cartoons get really old really fast! I was worried I was going to gouge my eyes out and I love Roadrunner/coyote cartoons!
-During craft time I raced Kimbo in the new seek and find ... she took a big advantage early and seemed destined to win,b ut I had a huge come from behind victory and remain the uncontested seek and find champ of the day!
-OOOH, and at pool time Kyle Matthews joined Kimberly and I in making the towels our capes when we dry off. We were the superfriends ... Kyle was Superman, I was Batman and Kyle told Kimbo she was Robin ... haha, naturally I used this against her later when she tried to me make me make a decision for the tribe. Haha...
And it was Adam (and Jason's!) 22nd birthday, which we are celebrating. SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ADAM AND JASON!
-The re-occuring theme for the day was: Just because we have 10 zillion markers doesn't mean any of them remotely work.
-In the AM, before first period, I spy a couple of kids playing chess so I walk on over to check out the game. The pieces are all well scattered across the board and the two kids were staring very intently at the game, seemingly really into it. By all accounts these were a couple of second graders playing a riveting game of chess. As I first get there it all seems to normal to me, except both sides queen and king are busted at the top so you can't tell which is which. This is actually quite common and generally kids have some ingenius ways of marking which is a king or a queen.
So I inquire, which is the king? They both shurg their shoulders and one says I don't know... A few minutes later I notice that one of the just moved their rook (the castle looking pieces) diagonally. This is a major n0-no. So I ask, have you guys ever played chess before? One says, and as non-chalantly as possible, "Nope" while the other pipes up, "I've played checkers before ... once" ... Hahaha, I about lost it. So there ya have it, you don't have to have any clue of how to play chess to actually play and enjoy the game.
-Everyone, but my coco ordered hot dogs for lunch. Proof that there is something kids unanimously likew more than PBJ's...
-It turns out the pool is an excellent place to be at 9am on a day when the heat index nears or tops 100...
-SPIDER STORY TIME: So in the pool the cutest little girl at all of Tuesday camp (and from my tribe!) comes up to me and asks me to fix her goggles. So I sit up on the drain that run around the pool to work on fixing the little plastic pain in the rears ... when Emma (the little girl) yells SPIDER! So I hope off that drain as fast as anyone's hopped off anything and turn around, half expecting her to tell me it's on me (it should be noted here that I definitely have an irrational fear of Spiders!!!) ... When I see this spider sitting below the half-inch deep water in the drain. It's a nasty looking bugger that's prolly half-dollar sized (like including legs, it's legs would touch the outer edge of a half-dolllar). It's white with weird black spots, looks kinda hairy, and is like no other spider I've ever seen. I make the comment to Emma and another kid next to me, "Hm, I didn't know that Spiders could live in water."
At this point, Emma seems more fascinated than scared. She's really getting her face pretty close as she peers and I could just see this thing jumping at her nose or something. It started to move some in the water so I look down the pool wall and demand that a girl about 6 feet away whose not paying attention give me her kickboard. I had to ask twice to get her attention and I am sure she thinks I am mean cause I was agitated, but like I said not a fan of spiders so I was trying to deal with the situation calmly and quickly.
I take the kickboard and go to smash the spider, but the little bugger was bright and right as I attacked like jumped out of the water and onto the side of the board and began climbing up it. Emma and the other kid both kind of jumped and naturally I dropped the board as I jumped back. So I picki t back up and the spider is back in the drain. I go to smash it again and this time I got the SOB. Naturally I pulled the board away and the spider was just a black little ball, not even recognizable as a spider anymore, just another dead black bug. At this point I am all good and the other kid seems much cooler, but out of nowhere Emma, who had been the coolest out of us all and was totally interested literally turned 180 degrees and ran/swam as fast as she could across and out of the pool while yelling/screaming "EEEWWWWWWW" at the top of her lungs. You'd have thought someone had just smashed a booger on her face or something the way she was hollering. I couldn't help but crack up. Why that little girl had no problems with the real spider (which really was gross) and not the dead ball u could hardly see is beyond my ability to reason .... but it was sooooo funny!
-For 2nd period POW WOW, Kimbo and I played Bingo with our campers (a great idea!) ... except we forgot prizes, which is crucial to Bingo's success, so we told them their prizes were their daily granola bar snack. They wouldn't get it until they got a BINGO. An interesting idea ... next time we bring prizes!
-For third period games we played mystery kickball where I told some kid to stop feeling sorry for himself and to just get out there and just do it. I gave him the suck it up, quit trying to get attention and play the game (he thought he was too short and slow ...).
-T-Ball is a blast at any age.
-Lunch at the check-in/out shelter was a disaster! We seriously had like 18 juice spills or something.
-Tuesday campers are such little S***S!! They whine about everything...
-Kinberly is the best Co-counselor ever!
-So for my break I lay down and take a nap. After like 10 minutes I fell asleep and begin having this intesne dream. I don;t remember anything exept it was waaaaay intense and I am pretty sure it was about camp. I am also napping a few feet from Kelly and shirtless because it was sooo muggy and I was too sweaty. In the middle of this intense dream I come charging back to life like someone coming up for air after being partially drowned. Kyle Lawton, in cohort with Aaron Gross, decided it would be funny to wake Jim up with cold water. So Kyle ran over, took her mug full of ice cold water and dumped it on me while napping ... which is what brought me out of my intense dream. My heart was racing soooo fast for like 20 minutes after. It scared the living heck out of me (and woke Kelly up and scared her I might add!) Apparently my face when I woke up was beyond priceless and their only regret was that theiy were the only two who got to see it. I can only imagine ... those two have no idea what's coming to them one day! Haha, what a great prank!
-For games this afternoon we watched an hour of Looney Tunes in the basement because of the heat. While this started out to be good times, 40 minutes or an hour of RoadRunner/Coyote cartoons get really old really fast! I was worried I was going to gouge my eyes out and I love Roadrunner/coyote cartoons!
-During craft time I raced Kimbo in the new seek and find ... she took a big advantage early and seemed destined to win,b ut I had a huge come from behind victory and remain the uncontested seek and find champ of the day!
-OOOH, and at pool time Kyle Matthews joined Kimberly and I in making the towels our capes when we dry off. We were the superfriends ... Kyle was Superman, I was Batman and Kyle told Kimbo she was Robin ... haha, naturally I used this against her later when she tried to me make me make a decision for the tribe. Haha...
And it was Adam (and Jason's!) 22nd birthday, which we are celebrating. SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ADAM AND JASON!
Monday, June 27
Last Monday
From Tuesday June 21st
Last night some Daycamp counselors and I went to Avantis about 6:30 for dinner, it was definitely good times! We sat around and shared a bunch of camp stories that were absolutely hysterical. Even if you're not a counselor at a daycamp you should sit in on one of these sessions. One of my favorites is the following:
For an activity one tribe's counselors had an activity where the kids layed down on the sidewalk and someone would draw their outline. Kids can they color it however they want. It's good times for the first and second graders. One first grader on the first day of camp added a penis to his outline. (Hysterical!). Another camp responded to this by stating to his counselors, "I'm not going to draw that skinny thing between my legs!"
The fun continued for a few of us after Avantis as we went to Gene's on main for ice cream. At about 8:30 we were saying our good-byes in preparation to head home when I made the comment, "It's sad that we spend all day with each other, go home and change and then spend all night as well." Sherri, another counselor waited a moment then then responded: "No, what's sad is that we all consider staying out 'til 8:30 to be all night!"
.-Jungle Jim- (it's what the Wednesdays campers call me)...
Last night some Daycamp counselors and I went to Avantis about 6:30 for dinner, it was definitely good times! We sat around and shared a bunch of camp stories that were absolutely hysterical. Even if you're not a counselor at a daycamp you should sit in on one of these sessions. One of my favorites is the following:
For an activity one tribe's counselors had an activity where the kids layed down on the sidewalk and someone would draw their outline. Kids can they color it however they want. It's good times for the first and second graders. One first grader on the first day of camp added a penis to his outline. (Hysterical!). Another camp responded to this by stating to his counselors, "I'm not going to draw that skinny thing between my legs!"
The fun continued for a few of us after Avantis as we went to Gene's on main for ice cream. At about 8:30 we were saying our good-byes in preparation to head home when I made the comment, "It's sad that we spend all day with each other, go home and change and then spend all night as well." Sherri, another counselor waited a moment then then responded: "No, what's sad is that we all consider staying out 'til 8:30 to be all night!"
.-Jungle Jim- (it's what the Wednesdays campers call me)...
Camp Lessons: Day 2
From Tuesday June 14th:
Another day in the Normal Life spent at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka ... it really is turning out to be a great job!Here's a few observations from my second day as a camp counselor. Yesterday was first graders, today was second graders. We had 12 ppl in our group (6 boys/6 girls)...just FYI.
-Apparently they knew what they were doing when they handed out sweatshirts and windpants as part of the job uniform, even if it is summer time
-The excitement and energy level from the first day as a counselor does not spill over into the second day, even if you got more sleep the night before.
-In an official polling of 12 second graders, if they could be any character from any movie most would want to be SpongeBob Squarepants. As distant second was Anakin Skywalker. Amazing to think that the future of the world strives to be an immature yellow sponge flips burgers for a living, and an immature, cluelessly idiotic, egocentricly self-centered whiny brat. Yes it's okay to weep now. (Note: I love Spongebob and do not bother defending Anakin Skywalker, we're not supposed to like him, we're supposed to feel sorry for him. There's a difference!)
-The difference between dealing with 250 screaming first graders and 250 screaming second graders in the pool locker room is like night and day ...
-2nd graders whine ten times more than first graders, which this counselor did not think was possible.
-Children's hearing does not improve between first and second grade.-If a child's lips are blue he is too cold to continue swimming in the pool, but too cranky for a counselor to pull out.
-Second graders are more focused on themselves than first graders ... there's no team mentality in any second grade thought. Somewhere developmental theorists like Piaget and Erikson are weeping in their graves.
-If it's a little nippy OUTSIDE the pool, it's going to be unbearably cold INSIDE the pool.
-Splashing water accurately across great distances is an inherent ability that virtually all second graders possess
-If a child sees a deadly snake in the water while canoeing with his family at Dawson Lake he will spend every waking moment retelling the moment to anyone who is or is not listening, even if you ask him to stop repeatedly.
-Said stories about the deadly snake encounter will never become interesting, no matter how hard one tries to care, especially before noon.
-Lifeguards have a really boring job.-Duck, Duck, Goose is still a failsafe.
-The Duck, Duck, Goose game that I grew up with and loved is not actually the version that is generally played today.
-It is a high honor for a camper to carry out an action asked by a counselor. Examples of such actions are throwing a piece of paper away, putting a pen in a little plastic cup or carrying a muddy sign that is twice as wide as any camper across an extremely windy field.
-These activities are such honor campers will get in shoving matches over them and may cry if they are not chosen
-Wind and Uno are not friends.
-Pink is to boys as Kryptonite is to Superman.
-Some children's view of taking a rest is running around a large area while screaming at the top of their lungs.
-Ninjas are still cool.
-You're not really a Ninja if you don't have a sword.
-A child with a peanut allergy can not eat regular M&M's because they are made in the same factory as peanut M&M's.
-Twins on Tuesday are Trouble
-At any given moment a child either thinks you're the antichrist or the best thing to ever happen to them. Often times nothing you say or do has any bearing on which it is at any given moment.
-Screaming/Yelling aimlessly in large packs is the best way to spend a lunch period as a second grader (even if it means you don't eat).
-Children are either aggravatingly over-competitive or aggravatingly non-competive ... there is virtually no gray area or middle ground on the subject.
-What a Counselor says: DO NOT THROW THE BALL AT ANYONE'S HEAD. Anyone hit in the head will not count as an out and a nyone caught throwing the ball at someoen's head will be sat out.
What Campers hear: THROW THE BALL AT ANYONE'S HEAD ANY CHANCE YOU GET.
-Even when no score is kept, winning at all cost is imperative.
-If you're losing, the other team is definitely cheating. If you're winning, it's because you cheated.
-Picking grass is the favorite past time of 1 in every 3 kids, no matter what is going on around them or what the weather may be like.
-If a child is bad at a game they have a tendency to come down with a sudden illness that at the very least sidelines them for an hour, if it doesn;t nearly kill them all together.
-Just as amazingly, a child mysteriously recovers from sudden deadly illness when said game/activity is over.
-Girls aren't more mature than boys, they are just cuter which makes them generally less annoying.
-Games in which there is no clear objective, teams, time limit or way to end the game become boring after about 5 minutes for an average adult, 10 minutes for the average daycamp counselor and 25 for a second grader.
-The above is a distinct problem when the game is intended to be played for 45 to an hour.
-Water breaks are more for the counselors benefit and sanity than the Children's health or safety.
-Thus far the counselor who told me that there will be a juice spill to clean up at every lunch is 2/2 ... and I thought they were just speaking generally.
-Cups of Kool-Aid, bags of chips, bags of fruit snacks and Arby's wrappers are all not friends with Wind either.
-30 minutes for lunch feels less like half of an hour and more like the time it takes to take two deep breaths.
-Putting 75 kids in a small concrete bunker and then playing a game that involves lots of camper participation leads to intense screaming which in turn causes the loss of sanity for any counselor in the vicinity and at least one camper a group to get a legitimate headache. I mean seriously, it's bad when multiple kids get headaches from the noise (these are there fellow campers were talking about!) ...
-Leaving the bunker is a lot like leaving a football game. You might as well just be patient and enjoy a few extra moments in your seat because it's a million people trying to rush out of a small area with one exit as fast as possible.
-Coloring is still way hip.
-Macaroni is an essential craft item.
-At least one camper in your group will lose or break their craft. Most of the time they'll find it or fix it within 30 seconds of reporting it to their counselor.
-The kid that did the pushing is more likely to be the one crying than the kid who actually got pushed
-Just because "he's a good kid" doesn't mean you don't want to kill him
-You will slapped in the butt at least once a day
-Out of bounds doesn't exist in games unless it's a physical object like a wall taht the campers can't move (and even then...)
-As a counselor, if you're playing the game the kids are you will be singled out. In a game of tag everyone who is "it" will make it their goal to tag you. Generally this occurs all at once and more than once. Conversely you won't be out for more than 30 seconds (sadly, this could be good rest time) as 15 campers are ready to save you the moment it happens
-Kids can't run as fast as counselors, but it doesn't matter because they'll eventually catch up ... they can't run as fast, but they can run at their fatest pace about 10x as long as any counselor can.
-With second graders, you don't always have to let the wookie win.
-A Game is only boring to the losing team.
-One can be young at heart their whole lives, but they can only be young in practice for 5 minutes at a time.
-As long as you know the hand motions and the words, you don't have to be even a remotely decent singer at camp.
-It only takes one rendition to get a silly song stuck in your head for the entire night away from camp.
-The feathers the Monday campers found and thought were either Eagle or Duck feathers were actually Goose feathers according to our Tuesday campers.
-Jim-
Another day in the Normal Life spent at Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka ... it really is turning out to be a great job!Here's a few observations from my second day as a camp counselor. Yesterday was first graders, today was second graders. We had 12 ppl in our group (6 boys/6 girls)...just FYI.
-Apparently they knew what they were doing when they handed out sweatshirts and windpants as part of the job uniform, even if it is summer time
-The excitement and energy level from the first day as a counselor does not spill over into the second day, even if you got more sleep the night before.
-In an official polling of 12 second graders, if they could be any character from any movie most would want to be SpongeBob Squarepants. As distant second was Anakin Skywalker. Amazing to think that the future of the world strives to be an immature yellow sponge flips burgers for a living, and an immature, cluelessly idiotic, egocentricly self-centered whiny brat. Yes it's okay to weep now. (Note: I love Spongebob and do not bother defending Anakin Skywalker, we're not supposed to like him, we're supposed to feel sorry for him. There's a difference!)
-The difference between dealing with 250 screaming first graders and 250 screaming second graders in the pool locker room is like night and day ...
-2nd graders whine ten times more than first graders, which this counselor did not think was possible.
-Children's hearing does not improve between first and second grade.-If a child's lips are blue he is too cold to continue swimming in the pool, but too cranky for a counselor to pull out.
-Second graders are more focused on themselves than first graders ... there's no team mentality in any second grade thought. Somewhere developmental theorists like Piaget and Erikson are weeping in their graves.
-If it's a little nippy OUTSIDE the pool, it's going to be unbearably cold INSIDE the pool.
-Splashing water accurately across great distances is an inherent ability that virtually all second graders possess
-If a child sees a deadly snake in the water while canoeing with his family at Dawson Lake he will spend every waking moment retelling the moment to anyone who is or is not listening, even if you ask him to stop repeatedly.
-Said stories about the deadly snake encounter will never become interesting, no matter how hard one tries to care, especially before noon.
-Lifeguards have a really boring job.-Duck, Duck, Goose is still a failsafe.
-The Duck, Duck, Goose game that I grew up with and loved is not actually the version that is generally played today.
-It is a high honor for a camper to carry out an action asked by a counselor. Examples of such actions are throwing a piece of paper away, putting a pen in a little plastic cup or carrying a muddy sign that is twice as wide as any camper across an extremely windy field.
-These activities are such honor campers will get in shoving matches over them and may cry if they are not chosen
-Wind and Uno are not friends.
-Pink is to boys as Kryptonite is to Superman.
-Some children's view of taking a rest is running around a large area while screaming at the top of their lungs.
-Ninjas are still cool.
-You're not really a Ninja if you don't have a sword.
-A child with a peanut allergy can not eat regular M&M's because they are made in the same factory as peanut M&M's.
-Twins on Tuesday are Trouble
-At any given moment a child either thinks you're the antichrist or the best thing to ever happen to them. Often times nothing you say or do has any bearing on which it is at any given moment.
-Screaming/Yelling aimlessly in large packs is the best way to spend a lunch period as a second grader (even if it means you don't eat).
-Children are either aggravatingly over-competitive or aggravatingly non-competive ... there is virtually no gray area or middle ground on the subject.
-What a Counselor says: DO NOT THROW THE BALL AT ANYONE'S HEAD. Anyone hit in the head will not count as an out and a nyone caught throwing the ball at someoen's head will be sat out.
What Campers hear: THROW THE BALL AT ANYONE'S HEAD ANY CHANCE YOU GET.
-Even when no score is kept, winning at all cost is imperative.
-If you're losing, the other team is definitely cheating. If you're winning, it's because you cheated.
-Picking grass is the favorite past time of 1 in every 3 kids, no matter what is going on around them or what the weather may be like.
-If a child is bad at a game they have a tendency to come down with a sudden illness that at the very least sidelines them for an hour, if it doesn;t nearly kill them all together.
-Just as amazingly, a child mysteriously recovers from sudden deadly illness when said game/activity is over.
-Girls aren't more mature than boys, they are just cuter which makes them generally less annoying.
-Games in which there is no clear objective, teams, time limit or way to end the game become boring after about 5 minutes for an average adult, 10 minutes for the average daycamp counselor and 25 for a second grader.
-The above is a distinct problem when the game is intended to be played for 45 to an hour.
-Water breaks are more for the counselors benefit and sanity than the Children's health or safety.
-Thus far the counselor who told me that there will be a juice spill to clean up at every lunch is 2/2 ... and I thought they were just speaking generally.
-Cups of Kool-Aid, bags of chips, bags of fruit snacks and Arby's wrappers are all not friends with Wind either.
-30 minutes for lunch feels less like half of an hour and more like the time it takes to take two deep breaths.
-Putting 75 kids in a small concrete bunker and then playing a game that involves lots of camper participation leads to intense screaming which in turn causes the loss of sanity for any counselor in the vicinity and at least one camper a group to get a legitimate headache. I mean seriously, it's bad when multiple kids get headaches from the noise (these are there fellow campers were talking about!) ...
-Leaving the bunker is a lot like leaving a football game. You might as well just be patient and enjoy a few extra moments in your seat because it's a million people trying to rush out of a small area with one exit as fast as possible.
-Coloring is still way hip.
-Macaroni is an essential craft item.
-At least one camper in your group will lose or break their craft. Most of the time they'll find it or fix it within 30 seconds of reporting it to their counselor.
-The kid that did the pushing is more likely to be the one crying than the kid who actually got pushed
-Just because "he's a good kid" doesn't mean you don't want to kill him
-You will slapped in the butt at least once a day
-Out of bounds doesn't exist in games unless it's a physical object like a wall taht the campers can't move (and even then...)
-As a counselor, if you're playing the game the kids are you will be singled out. In a game of tag everyone who is "it" will make it their goal to tag you. Generally this occurs all at once and more than once. Conversely you won't be out for more than 30 seconds (sadly, this could be good rest time) as 15 campers are ready to save you the moment it happens
-Kids can't run as fast as counselors, but it doesn't matter because they'll eventually catch up ... they can't run as fast, but they can run at their fatest pace about 10x as long as any counselor can.
-With second graders, you don't always have to let the wookie win.
-A Game is only boring to the losing team.
-One can be young at heart their whole lives, but they can only be young in practice for 5 minutes at a time.
-As long as you know the hand motions and the words, you don't have to be even a remotely decent singer at camp.
-It only takes one rendition to get a silly song stuck in your head for the entire night away from camp.
-The feathers the Monday campers found and thought were either Eagle or Duck feathers were actually Goose feathers according to our Tuesday campers.
-Jim-
Where Babies Come From
Oh man, the funniest thing (well maybe not the funniest, but pretty darn funny) happened today during Pow Wow. We took our campers mini golfing today, which was funny enough without anything else happening. I kind of forgot that Monday campers aren't exactly golf professionals.
Anyway, after we were done golfing, we had about five - ten minutes before lunch, so after the kids finished running around with Adam attempting to rescue little lost golf balls from the water, we hung out in the little hut over there and talked to Ashley (mini golf staff).
Well, Emily (probably my all time favorite camper) decides to start telling everyone that she knows where babies come from but that she can't tell anybody. It was hilarious. She's like, "I know where they come from AND I know how they're made." Her fellow campers were either ignoring her or looking at her like "Why should we care?" But she insisted on telling them that she knew but she couldn't tell them.
She then informed us that the reason she knew was from a book called "Where I Came From" (or something to that effect). After about fifty times of telling her little sidekick Natalie that she couldn't tell her where they came from (Natalie never seemed to care, much to Emily's dismay), she told her that she could, however, show her the book. She then realized that she didn't know where the book was because her mom had hid it (how dare her!).
Adam kept interjecting her claims that she knew where babies came from with "From the stork, right?" while Ashley and I just laughed and laughed and laughed. Yeah, it was great.
Anyway, after we were done golfing, we had about five - ten minutes before lunch, so after the kids finished running around with Adam attempting to rescue little lost golf balls from the water, we hung out in the little hut over there and talked to Ashley (mini golf staff).
Well, Emily (probably my all time favorite camper) decides to start telling everyone that she knows where babies come from but that she can't tell anybody. It was hilarious. She's like, "I know where they come from AND I know how they're made." Her fellow campers were either ignoring her or looking at her like "Why should we care?" But she insisted on telling them that she knew but she couldn't tell them.
She then informed us that the reason she knew was from a book called "Where I Came From" (or something to that effect). After about fifty times of telling her little sidekick Natalie that she couldn't tell her where they came from (Natalie never seemed to care, much to Emily's dismay), she told her that she could, however, show her the book. She then realized that she didn't know where the book was because her mom had hid it (how dare her!).
Adam kept interjecting her claims that she knew where babies came from with "From the stork, right?" while Ashley and I just laughed and laughed and laughed. Yeah, it was great.
Sunday, June 26
Saturday, June 25
A Workers Friday
For those of us who had work on Fridays, here's what we got paid for...
Period 1: Usual Friday Activities -- I played a form of dodgeball called jailball with 25 campers.
Period 2 and 3: All camp pool time. I played pool home run derby with like 8 counselors, wrestled with my little brothers, raced kimbo in finishing a seek and find (I was annihilated), and colored with a camper who couldn't swim because of stitches.
Then came lunch ... yeah lunch!
Afternoon: Campers began to leave waaay early because of intense heat. Because of so few numbers counselors got to leave early if they wanted. Many did.
Period 4: All camp craft!! Campers could pick one of three options. I worked on and finished a seek and find.
Period 5: All Camp video. I LOVE THE INCREDIBLES! Even if my butt did fall asleep and i just wanted a nap.
Campers then played games and slowly left as their check out times came like normal. Ann and Sophie refused to playh Marco Polo over the radio, but did radio in two names: Ben Dover and Mike Hunt to mess with us in the office. It worked well. Keystaffers Kate and Krista didn't realize they were fake names at first and began to look them up ... and counselor Heather actually announced Mike Hunt (she knew what she was saying and she clearly pronounced both names to avoid how it COULD sound) over the speakers...
And thats what I got paid for. It was awesome, it was fun, it wasn't that hot ... although it was my least favorite day of the week. I miss staying in tribes and pods and most of all it's not the same without the other first years around!
-Jungle Jim-
Period 1: Usual Friday Activities -- I played a form of dodgeball called jailball with 25 campers.
Period 2 and 3: All camp pool time. I played pool home run derby with like 8 counselors, wrestled with my little brothers, raced kimbo in finishing a seek and find (I was annihilated), and colored with a camper who couldn't swim because of stitches.
Then came lunch ... yeah lunch!
Afternoon: Campers began to leave waaay early because of intense heat. Because of so few numbers counselors got to leave early if they wanted. Many did.
Period 4: All camp craft!! Campers could pick one of three options. I worked on and finished a seek and find.
Period 5: All Camp video. I LOVE THE INCREDIBLES! Even if my butt did fall asleep and i just wanted a nap.
Campers then played games and slowly left as their check out times came like normal. Ann and Sophie refused to playh Marco Polo over the radio, but did radio in two names: Ben Dover and Mike Hunt to mess with us in the office. It worked well. Keystaffers Kate and Krista didn't realize they were fake names at first and began to look them up ... and counselor Heather actually announced Mike Hunt (she knew what she was saying and she clearly pronounced both names to avoid how it COULD sound) over the speakers...
And thats what I got paid for. It was awesome, it was fun, it wasn't that hot ... although it was my least favorite day of the week. I miss staying in tribes and pods and most of all it's not the same without the other first years around!
-Jungle Jim-
Friday, June 24
Fridays . . .
So it's Friday. The day I have off from camp this week. Reward for working the 7-5 M-Th shift. Reward for leaving my house at six-thirty each morning. My day off.
And I miss camp already. I miss the kids, I miss the counselors, I miss the kickball, the swimming, the snot-dripping noses, the constant whine of "how long till lunch," always asked just after morning snack. I miss the insanity, I miss the chaos, I miss the fun. I miss the energy the kids give me, and the complete and utter exhaustion I feel at the end of the day when the last camper has finally been picked up. I miss watching the guys peg the kids in kickball, dodgeball, and any other game where they can legitimately get away with throwing balls at the campers.
It really is pathetic. I just feel lazy. Pathetic as it is, I translate this into one short, yet very important concept: I love my job. And that is not pathetic at all.
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." --Aristotle
"Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined." --Johnny Carson
If you love your job, you will never work a day of your life . . .
And I miss camp already. I miss the kids, I miss the counselors, I miss the kickball, the swimming, the snot-dripping noses, the constant whine of "how long till lunch," always asked just after morning snack. I miss the insanity, I miss the chaos, I miss the fun. I miss the energy the kids give me, and the complete and utter exhaustion I feel at the end of the day when the last camper has finally been picked up. I miss watching the guys peg the kids in kickball, dodgeball, and any other game where they can legitimately get away with throwing balls at the campers.
It really is pathetic. I just feel lazy. Pathetic as it is, I translate this into one short, yet very important concept: I love my job. And that is not pathetic at all.
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." --Aristotle
"Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined." --Johnny Carson
If you love your job, you will never work a day of your life . . .
Thursday, June 23
Links
Jim, you rock - thanks for gettin stuff up here right away (so it's not just me rambling on!) :o)
Guys, if you want a link to your journal (xanga, blog, etc.), send me a note or leave a post w/ the web address and i'll put it up.
Have fun at camp tomorrow, all!! Keep cool (in that 105 heat index . . .)
Guys, if you want a link to your journal (xanga, blog, etc.), send me a note or leave a post w/ the web address and i'll put it up.
Have fun at camp tomorrow, all!! Keep cool (in that 105 heat index . . .)
Camp Lessons: Day 1
From Monday June 13:
Today was my first day as a daycamp counselor at State Farm daycamp. I worked from 8-4 and today's age group was like Kindergarten and first graders. All I gotta say is damn, I'm pretty tired! Here's what I learned/happened today
-The longer a kid is the in the pool, the energy he or she has ... (or maybe its that their energy levels stay at a constant while adults'/my levels drop consistently)
-The best way to become the most popular daycamp counselor is to become an ogre in the pool hunting children fro lunchtime sandwiches (and my Mom always told me to be nice to kids too!)
-Walking in a line doesn't mean you walk one right behind the other ... it means you can walk wherever uw ant (even if 13 of you are covering the width of two football fields) as long you don't walk faster than the person ahead of you.
-There's always a juice spill at lunch time
-This is the ants' territory and their just letting us use it temporarily
-Pulling your shorts/swim trunks down is always fair game
-When playing chess at 8 am: Let the Wookies Win -Duck, Duck Goose is a failsafe
-Games that require any measure of teamwork or have an object (like scoring a goal) are booorrrriing
-Just because a kid doesn't line up when called doesn't mean he was ignoring you, he was trying to tie his buffalo up so that it wouldn't fly away
-Never holler across a football field at a kid playing in the dirt ... you'll scare his buffalo away
-M&M's really can melt in your hand
-While 50 screaming kids are running around playing a version of freeze tag, Jim asks a pain in the butt kid off by himself drawing in dirt (and thus not participating): "what are you doing?" Kid replies, "Drawing Castles in the sand" ... moment of silence, "why don't you want to come this game?", Child responds without looking up (and very irritated at the obvious answer that Jim failed to predict), "BECAUSE I'M DRAWING CASTLES IN THE SAND!" (It should be noted this was also the child who was agitated that I scared his buffalo his away while calling his name across the 100 yards he put between himself and camp.)
-"Walk Quickly Please" is code for slowing one's pace so that snails seem fast in Kid talk
-Roast Beef is not a popular choice when Peanut Butter and Jelly is an option
-The only time of day a counselor is not tired, is the 30 minute break they are graciously given to nap
-No matter how shady a parking spot is, at 90 degrees for 8 hours, the vehicle will still be scorching hot upon initial entry
-The feathers of an Eagle and a Duck are so similar that after a day's debate no one can agree on whether the feathers they found were one or the other (for the record, they most certainly were not Eagle feathers)...
-If a child does not feel they have your completely undivded attention they will get even with you by wandering off, making a mess or doing something they aren't supposed to.
-Children think best when someone else (read: another child) does it for them -When a counselor says don't that means everyone else can't, but I still can
-Kids forget a lot ... ("Why did you wander off, you were supposed to walk to the water fountain for a drink and then come right back?" ... "I forgot")
-Cheerleading is for Girls
-Pink is a color of the rainbow because Purple has Pink in it
-Don't ask a child with the name Bradley on their name badge if they go by Bradley or Brad. They will become extremely agitated and repeat over and over, "yes, my name is Bradley ____(inster last name)" no matter how many ways you phrase the question ...
-when Kids get tired they actually become more energetic ... when counselors bcome tired they see an increase in drwosiness, a decrease in fine motor skill abilities and possibly experience delusions of grandeur
-2/3 kids are pro Simon Says ... the other 1/3 want to go swimming in the pond ...
and no, I didn't make-up or exaggerate any of these ... sad as that is.
-Jungle Jim-
Today was my first day as a daycamp counselor at State Farm daycamp. I worked from 8-4 and today's age group was like Kindergarten and first graders. All I gotta say is damn, I'm pretty tired! Here's what I learned/happened today
-The longer a kid is the in the pool, the energy he or she has ... (or maybe its that their energy levels stay at a constant while adults'/my levels drop consistently)
-The best way to become the most popular daycamp counselor is to become an ogre in the pool hunting children fro lunchtime sandwiches (and my Mom always told me to be nice to kids too!)
-Walking in a line doesn't mean you walk one right behind the other ... it means you can walk wherever uw ant (even if 13 of you are covering the width of two football fields) as long you don't walk faster than the person ahead of you.
-There's always a juice spill at lunch time
-This is the ants' territory and their just letting us use it temporarily
-Pulling your shorts/swim trunks down is always fair game
-When playing chess at 8 am: Let the Wookies Win -Duck, Duck Goose is a failsafe
-Games that require any measure of teamwork or have an object (like scoring a goal) are booorrrriing
-Just because a kid doesn't line up when called doesn't mean he was ignoring you, he was trying to tie his buffalo up so that it wouldn't fly away
-Never holler across a football field at a kid playing in the dirt ... you'll scare his buffalo away
-M&M's really can melt in your hand
-While 50 screaming kids are running around playing a version of freeze tag, Jim asks a pain in the butt kid off by himself drawing in dirt (and thus not participating): "what are you doing?" Kid replies, "Drawing Castles in the sand" ... moment of silence, "why don't you want to come this game?", Child responds without looking up (and very irritated at the obvious answer that Jim failed to predict), "BECAUSE I'M DRAWING CASTLES IN THE SAND!" (It should be noted this was also the child who was agitated that I scared his buffalo his away while calling his name across the 100 yards he put between himself and camp.)
-"Walk Quickly Please" is code for slowing one's pace so that snails seem fast in Kid talk
-Roast Beef is not a popular choice when Peanut Butter and Jelly is an option
-The only time of day a counselor is not tired, is the 30 minute break they are graciously given to nap
-No matter how shady a parking spot is, at 90 degrees for 8 hours, the vehicle will still be scorching hot upon initial entry
-The feathers of an Eagle and a Duck are so similar that after a day's debate no one can agree on whether the feathers they found were one or the other (for the record, they most certainly were not Eagle feathers)...
-If a child does not feel they have your completely undivded attention they will get even with you by wandering off, making a mess or doing something they aren't supposed to.
-Children think best when someone else (read: another child) does it for them -When a counselor says don't that means everyone else can't, but I still can
-Kids forget a lot ... ("Why did you wander off, you were supposed to walk to the water fountain for a drink and then come right back?" ... "I forgot")
-Cheerleading is for Girls
-Pink is a color of the rainbow because Purple has Pink in it
-Don't ask a child with the name Bradley on their name badge if they go by Bradley or Brad. They will become extremely agitated and repeat over and over, "yes, my name is Bradley ____(inster last name)" no matter how many ways you phrase the question ...
-when Kids get tired they actually become more energetic ... when counselors bcome tired they see an increase in drwosiness, a decrease in fine motor skill abilities and possibly experience delusions of grandeur
-2/3 kids are pro Simon Says ... the other 1/3 want to go swimming in the pond ...
and no, I didn't make-up or exaggerate any of these ... sad as that is.
-Jungle Jim-
Upcoming Posts
So I did some posting about daycamp on my other blog (http://thenormallife.blogspot.com) and I thought I'd put them up!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
HELLOOOOOO
What up y'all! I am, as the Wednesday campers call me, Jungle Jim from Camp Wa-Nik-Ska-Ka. I am definitely a newbie and this is definitely the best job ever! I hope everyone enjoys the stories as there are plenty of them!
A special Rock On to Kelly for putting this up! I'm a huge fan already. Way to be!
-Jim-
A special Rock On to Kelly for putting this up! I'm a huge fan already. Way to be!
-Jim-
Pictures . . .
Hey - if anyone's got pictures from camp that they wanna share, I could get a webshots or yahoo!photos page up and running. Let me know!! (knsnyde@ilstu.edu or AIM: SoggyShrubbery) :o)
Wednesday, June 22
Camp Days
Hey all! This was set up so us counselors of the Great and Wonderful State Farm Day Camp have a place to share stories from camp. Also, feel free to use this to post anything camp-related (ie - social gatherings).
If you want a link to your journal (xanga, blog, etc.), send a note or leave a post w/ the web address and we'll put it up.
Kelly and Jungle Jim are the administrators for the blog, so if you want to join and haven't received an invite (we don't have everyone's email), leave one of us a note (on the site, email, or aim) and we'll send an invite your way!!
If you want a link to your journal (xanga, blog, etc.), send a note or leave a post w/ the web address and we'll put it up.
Kelly and Jungle Jim are the administrators for the blog, so if you want to join and haven't received an invite (we don't have everyone's email), leave one of us a note (on the site, email, or aim) and we'll send an invite your way!!
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