The good, the bad, the end of CD week 1

Well, the week is over. Most of the kids were sad to be leaving camp. A handful "graduated"--they can only come to the youth week until they are 17, and then they can only come to the adult week by invitation when they are 25.

This week was a huge learning experience for me. I'm beginning to be able to treat minor ailments without referencing the great almighty manual. We saw lots of things this week: rashes, bee stings, cuts, scrapes, and homesickness. I learned the healing properties of "anti-ache" and "magic water"--sometimes kids who are homesick come to the Lodge with headaches so we give them magic water...aka tap water that comes with a serious sounding set of instructions (3 sips and it will start to work within 5-10 minutes.) One kid said it helped him sleep really well!

The kids just warmed my heart. When I went on a nature hike with my cabin, all the kids just wanted to hold my hand. They thought it was really cool when I taught them some sign language. They all had stories to tell, about their lives, their families, and anything that came to mind.

My favorite story so far is about the kiddo I mentioned in the last post who reminded me very much of my brother Nicholas. One night during Trading Post time (where the kids can buy snacks and juice), Jacob says to his counselor, "Tyler, Tyler, we've got a BIG problem!" Tyler says, "What's wrong, buddy?"
Jacob [pointing to Phillip's lemonade]: "That has CALORIES, 150 calories! It's going to keep you up ALL NIGHT!"
Phillip, another counselor: "Jacob, I think you mean 'caffeine.' "
Jacob: "Oh...then keep drinking."

It was so cute! :)

Not everybody had a good week. We did have some fights and behavior issues and in some cases quite a bit of attitude. And as we all know, attitude is everything! One camper who decided it was a good idea to hit, pinch, and headbutt her counselor, Andrea (the camp director), Jamie (her assistant), and Ellyse (one of the unit directors), will not be allowed to come back next year. Maybe in two years, when she's had a chance to mature, she will be asked back. Her outbursts, which didn't occur until the end of the week, surprised me. She was generally bubbly and happy. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she got to meet Miley Cyrus this past April. Next month she will be having brain surgery to try and decrease the number of seizures she has. It's another one of those my heart goes out to the troublemaker stories--something I know I'll run into a lot as a teacher.

All in all it was a great week. Sunday brings our first week of deaf/hard of hearing kiddos. I'm nervous but excited to meet them and have another amazing week seeing all the things these kiddos can accomplish!

~SJ