Mid-week update, Week 4

I'll start with a funny tidbit. This week we have a group from a Catholic school. One of our activities is "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." At the beginning I ask the kids to guess who's coming to dinner (they all are... it's a game where they are wolves trying to catch a mouse). The longer you wait to tell them what's going to happen, the crazier the guesses get. This week one of the guesses was "God." Followed shortly by, "No! This isn't Bible camp, this is Hippie camp." It's so funny to me that kids born in the year 2000 still know about hippies.

This is probably the largest group of kids yet but they are incredibly well behaved. We finally have enough teachers/parents to have a chaperone with each group. The parents don't really get involved in discipline at all because they aren't needed, but I think having them there is helpful in itself. I don't know if its the 3 weeks of experience or the group I have but they are finally doing what they are asked (for the most part). This is the first week everyone has sat down in their Magic Spots! (According to the other crew leaders this is actually not uncommon. So maybe it is me) It's incredibly amazing to actually have 10-15 minutes of the afternoon to sit and relax instead of watching them all like a hawk.

The funniest thing about this group is their hunger. The schedule this week has had a couple days of late lunch and this is just not something they want to deal with. You would think their parents never fed them. However, it also works as great discipline tool to tell them if they don't listen or do an activity there will be no lunch. Working with kids makes you great at bartering and bribes.

I feel like I have been incredibly busy lately and I'm beginning to think that maybe once I should actually finish something in the allotted time period. In other words, I am working on finishing up 2 previous research papers which probably should have been done forever ago. Having no deadlines is terrible. Also, I am preparing for my upcoming move by combing through my possessions. There will definitely be some trips to Goodwill and other stuff will be given away to friends/family that can use the items I don't use. It's nice to get rid of things like that but it actually takes quite a bit of planning. Anyone want some used stuff?

On a final note, I am collecting addresses and other contact info. If you like to get letters and want to hear from me, please let me know what your address is!