First day of camp

One day down. 6 weeks left.

This morning we went to Lowell school and found most of the kids all in one room. Since there were no instructions I just began playing a board game with the kids and the next thing I knew I was on the Red Team which is made up of all the kids from kindergarten to second grade. I was actually very happy to have this assignment because I’ve worked with younger children more than older ones. I was also assigned to help out with one boy, Jonathan, who is diabetic. Ms. Julie, the lead staff person in the morning, seemed to be very nervous about taking care of him so it really turned out that I would just be looking after him alone. This involves making sure that he checks his blood sugar before and after meals and watching to make sure he isn’t acting in ways that could be a sign of low blood sugar. He’s a really sweet and smart 6 year old. If I could choose my child before having it I would choose one just like him. He was really low this morning so I gave him an extra snack and by the afternoon he was extremely high. Apparently the lows are better and easier to deal with than the lows. All he needs to do is run around if he has a high. I’m not uncomfortable with the fact that he has diabetes, I’m just really nervous that something will happen to him. To be honest I trust myself to take care of him more than I trust any of the rest of the staff. They haven’t proven themselves to be ultra competent. I’m going to look up some things on type 1 diabetes tonight to make sure that I know what to do when something goes wrong.

The first day of camp was really not bad at all. The kids were pretty well behaved for the most part. I had to sit a few kids out at the beginning of the day but after that they were good. I think the biggest thing that the kids need is organized play. If we played big group games we could easily keep an eye on all the kids and keep them out of any other kinds of trouble they could get into. I suppose I should think of some that I could bust out when needed. I also wish we would sing with the kids. I know it sounds corny but it keep little kids excited and happy.

Vacation Bible School was interesting. Becca, the parish worker at St. Paul’s and the woman in charge of VBS, is very particular about the way things should be done. She had this really complicated craft for the kids to do and she made them learn this cheesy song. It’s just such a stark contrast to what our camp is like. I found myself rolling my eyes at her a lot. I hope no one noticed. Brittany was mackin’ on one of the Asian helpers… I’ve never met a girl that has a thing for Asian boys. In my experience it has been guys who only have eyes for Asian girls. That wasn’t really important but I thought it was funny.