Further to my "Reality Check" post, I thought I'd add a couple of friendly warnings of things to look out for at camp :)
- Mid-week, the children will start to lose it. Today is Wednesday, they have been here since Sunday evening and will stay here until Friday evening. Before lunch one of my girls was playing a game, got carried away, and smacked an older girl in the face. At lunch another girl lost her temper and threw her plate at the floor (almost hitting me). Then one of the boys lost his temper (repeatedly) and started yelling and slamming things. I left for my break and outside the dining hall a further boy was yelling at one of the head counsellors. It's going to be an interesting day!
- Some children will wake up obscenely cheerful. Even after camp-out. The will chirp "Wakey, WAKEY, eggs and BAKEY!". They will sing camp songs. Loudly. All morning. Sadly, as exhausted as you are after sleeping on the ground, being bitten to death by bugs and dealing with kids all night, these are not horrific crimes you can punish. In fact, you are expected to encourage such disgustingly happy, morning behaviour!
- Teenagers are sensitive creatures. Think everything through at least three times before you speak. I forgot that one girl had new braces put in, and asked her (nicely) to stop making a slurping noise. She burst into tears and wouldn't speak to anyone for an hour. Do not make the same mistake!
On the plus side! The girl who got slapped in the face controlled herself very well, did not retaliate and remained calm, polite and smiling. That's more than I think I could do if someone hit me for no reason. My girls leaped to help clean up the mess on the floor, they held the bin lid open as I scraped food into it, they offered to run and get a mop, and generally were the pinnacle of helpfulness. And I do know that it's good they're happy in the mornings - at least they weren't being stereotypical monstrous teenagers!
So it's not all bad :)
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