During the last week of camp, I was lucky enough to be counseling. It's always a blessing to be on site during the last week because, well, it's the last week and it'd be nice to actually be there for it. I was also lucky enough to have Drew Boraas as my co-counselor for the week. Drew was the health aid for the summer so, obviously, this was his first week counseling. You may be thinking, "Why was it lucky you had a first time counselor as your co-counselor?" Valid question, and the answer is simply that Drew is a pretty cool guy; it has nothing to do with his counseling experience.
Anyway, none of that is relevant, really. For the last week of camp, I had third graders in my cabin, which is pretty ideal, considering I'm going to have a career working with second graders. However, these third graders didn't have very good memory. I don't know if there was like, a virus in the cabin that spread from kid to kid to cause a coding/storage/recall deficiency or something, but they just could not remember anything. For instance, every day we have something called "Power Hour," which is when the counselors get an hour without kids. During that hour, the kids go play games with the Assistant Program Directors. I never know what games they're playing because it doesn't concern me. However, my kids always thought I knew.
Monday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Playing a game with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Why not?"
"I don't participate in the game, so I don't ask what it is. I'm not even there for it, so I don't know."
Tuesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Remember what you did yesterday for Power Hour?"
"...Carpet ball?"
"Nope. You guys played a game with Stever and Annie, right?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"You're doing that again."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Is it 'Everybody's It Tag'?"
"Did you play that yesterday?"
"Yes!"
"Then no."
Wednesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that you're going to play a game, and that it'll probably be with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"When was the last time I answered that question for you?"
"Umm...I don't know."
"I don't know what game you're playing."
Thursday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm curious - what do you think you're doing for Power Hour today?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what did you do yesterday?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie?"
"Right! And what did you do the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie...?"
"Right again! And do you remember what you did the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie..."
"Exactly! So, if you were to just venture a guess as to what you are doing for Power Hour today, what would you guess?"
"...What game are we playing?"
"Sigh...Have I ever known what game you're playing for Power Hour?"
"No..."
"Right. And today is no different. I do not know what game you are playing."
There are a few more scenarios that are similar to this one, but I used up a ton of space with dialogue and I think it would be cruel to continue. Just believe me when I tell you that this cabin tested my patience more than any other cabin I have had. It was fun, though.
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