This week was obviously a short one (go fourth!) so this post will be a little shorter than my next one. We tried to make this week as smooth as possible because we had the dreaded beach field trip on Tuesday with the other three Flagler Schools camp.
The kids and their counselors from 2-3, 4-5 and 6-8 are all fine people, but it's really difficult all being in the same place at once. I made the mistake of having my kids bring their backpacks along with us, which upset my site-managers and coworkers a little. The way I saw it, if we were making them bring towels, lunch boxes and sunscreen along with us, at least give them something to bring it in rather than trusting them to keep it in their hands on the bus and then once we arrived. I prefer to give my orange group their Big Kid challenges at camp where there's less detrimental consequences than permanently left-behind belongings. We went to the beach first, and after assembling a huge canopy tent (like a pro!) we went in the water for about 30 minutes. It was really rough that day, and although I helped them all up and sent concern for their safety, I couldn't help but giggle a little when the big waves would roll through and they'd all go down like little bowling pins. None of them were hurt or had trouble swimming though, and without fail they all came running back to the deepest possible section after tumbling. We make a box out of our bodies with the fourth wall being the shore, and only went in as far as my thigh-level (which is obviously not very deep at all). After pulling them all back out we headed up on the beach for some sand play and then walked about a quarter mile up the sidewalk back to a small, air-conditioned community center for lunch and hotdogs, and then a nice afternoon on the playground and in this gorgeous field. The breezes felt so nice and it really was a much better day than we're used to for beach day.
The rest of the week had no real major events, aside from a case with a little girl from another group who continues to swear one of my boys put his hand down her bikini bottoms at Daytona Lagoon. While he has admitted to it and has since been punished, her mother barrages us every morning with claims that her daughter is practically being raped at summer camp, many of the allegations we have proof never occurred. Now instead of having our afternoon movie in our own room safely within the interior of the school, we now have it on the bright, hard stage floor in the cafeteria. This little girl is also made practically miserable each day of camp because her mother insists she play with any boys and as a result must be kept next to a counselor at all times. We're struggling as a camp to decide how to help her have the best summer possible, but right now she has put us in a difficult position by lying to our faces and then running and telling her mother different stories. I'm learning quickly and in a much more serious context than ever before that parents WILL go to any lengths to protect their child, even if the results they wish are irrational and practically impossible at the expense of their child's happiness. I'll add more as it develops.
To end on a happy note, our kids created really beautiful firework paintings Thursday evening out of pipe cleaners, so I thought I'd share one here:
Happy 4th~!
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