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-